Haima
by Nekocin
Summary: [AU, KaiJou eventually] A killer is ruling the night. His recent victims are just rookies for the most part. Someone has to stop him. I'm trying my hand on the SJ pairing.
1. Prologue

Title: Haima  
  
Author: Nekocin  
  
Email: Neko_cin_6@hotmail.com  
  
Genres: Various--- Action and Romance as main genres (I hope Romance wouldn't be so screwed up .).  
  
Type: AU (meaning no duel cards and such games . I apologize for those who wanted a challenging fic where those two will challenge each other)  
  
Anime: Yu-gi-oh (I'm surprised that I find this anime quite interesting and refreshing)  
  
Warnings: Shounen-ai (might get a bit yaoi . Don't know yet.) Violence. Maybe some OOC. For this chapter... please be aware that it can be a bloody. So please skip this chapter if you can't stand murders x_x. I apologize for the inconvenience.  
  
Pairings: Seto+Jou/Jou+Seto *still thinking about which one should be seme and which one should be uke*  
  
Rated: PG-13, but might get R ::shrugs:: (I didn't plan any of my stories Especially this one. I just wanted it out)  
  
Disclaimer: Anime in question doesn't belong to me. Never was. Never will. (My poor excuse for writing a disclaimer)  
  
Author's notes:   
  
All I've to say is that... . I've read too much Seto+Jou/Jou+Seto fics. You Jou+Seto/Seto+Jou writers rock!!! You all got me hooked with this pairing and ::gasps:: I can't believe all of you have gotten me this far. -_-;; I'm trying my hand on writing my first Yu-gi-oh fic. Well sort of... there's this "Let this rain wash over" fic which practically applies all the anime I can think of. Even Yu-gi-oh. It's short and is a bit weird since there are no names stated. Anyways... . I can't promised how this fic will be, I hope it can be a bit better than my Weiss Kreuz "The other me" Believe me. I've tried out my favorite pairing there too... . ARGH! That fic needs to be dumped. Anyways... enough with the rant. On with the fic... :) Welcome to "Haima"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Prologue  
  
Silence. Darkness. Cold. Alone.   
  
These were the first few thoughts that rang in his head. He groaned and noticed in which position he was finding himself. He was lying on the hard ground. Where was he? He wondered as he pushed himself into a sitting position.   
  
Pain shot through his body. He flinched involuntarily as he felt pain coming from every part of his body. It didn't help much as he wondered how he could be in pain. He frowned and took a look at his surroundings.  
  
It was too dark to see where he was, but somewhere at the further end of the world he could see faint light streaming past the darkness. He wondered what the hell was going on and then looked at his feet. He just hoped his feet weren't crushed since for the most part that there was where his body ached the most.   
  
He stared in horror as he noticed a tall shadow roaming over him. He let out a gasp and looked up slowly at the shadow. It was too dark to see who was there. He could only see a silhouette. The silhouette didn't make a move as he stared down at him.   
  
He shivered. Then the sound of something caught his attention.   
  
Drip. Drip. Drip.   
  
He frowned.  
  
Before he knew it, the slash came. Something white flashed past his eyes and he quickly backed away. His mind had caught up with why he had backed away.   
  
The silhouette was holding a knife. To be specifically a cleaver knife.   
  
Drip. Drip. Drip.  
  
He demanded the stranger for an explanation, but his words never came out of his mouth. His voice was gone. He couldn't scream or shout as much as he wanted to. He knew what the dripping sound was. The sound of blood of previous victims. He panicked instantly and scrambled back on his feet.   
  
The slash came again. He tried to dodge the cut and sidestepped quickly. The occasional whipping sound of knife soaring in the air became frighteningly faster and demanding. He kept dodging despite the fact he felt the pain increasing in his chest. The pain didn't cease as long as he was still jumping around, trying to save himself from being stabbed.   
  
He just couldn't fight back. He had no weapon to defend himself. He shouted at his attacker, but no sound came out. What was going on? If he had a gun right now he might have shot his attacker in the knee. Even having learned some fighting styles, he tried not to exhaust himself while he was in pain.   
  
Argh! The pain was still there!!!  
  
The owner of the knife growled in frustration, as he couldn't aim for the despicable, wounded man. The guy kept dodging the sharp edge. Why couldn't he finish his victim earlier when the guy was still unconscious? It was a thought that came out without an answer in his mind. He didn't know why...  
  
He had enough and kicked the injured man off his feet. His victim let out a surprised gasp, although no sound came out of his mouth as he cursed. But the wide eyes told the silhouette the wounded hadn't expected that.   
  
He smirked inwardly and forced his victim down on the ground with a knee. He pressured on his chest and smirked as he noticed his victim flinching from the unbearable pain in the chest. Besides... that's where he'd first knocked him out completely, right?   
  
He lifted his knife just above his victim and stared emotionless at the scared victim. In a flash he brought the knife's pointed edge down on his victim. He slid open the throat, digging into the victim and shredding the neck open. His victim's eyes were wide and a voiceless scream was cut off as soon as the knife had dug in.   
  
Blood splattered around, coloring the ground and the silhouette's clothes. Blood was everywhere. He struck his knife on his victim's shoulder and ripped open the flesh. The victim was long dead and was left like a useless doll.   
  
The silhouette stopped slowly and leaned forward. A grimace was on his face as some blood had been spattered over his face during the slitting. A sad smile adored the face. He pushed himself away from the dead body.   
  
He slowly rubbed the blood from the knife and looked back at the victim. What will they think once they found out about this? What will they do once they found out about who he really was?   
  
He turned away from the dead body and tucked his knife safely in his trench coat's pockets. He strode away from the darkness, from the dead body, from the bloodied scene. He smiled faintly what the outcome would become if they found out. He walked towards the light.   
  
He will be waiting...  
  
*.*.*.*.* End prologue *.*.*.*.*  
  
End notes:  
  
The title is a little weird. But anyways... I picked it out especially for a dark reason. It was picked out from a book while I was looking over my unread books. The name "Haima" is derived from the actual word I've found. Though the meaning of the word intrigued me I just picked it out.   
  
As for the murder scene... x_x it ended too quickly, I know. But remember it's a killer or murderer. They have to act fast.  
  
=^_^=cin 


	2. Chapter 1: First day, sixth dead

Title: Haima  
  
Author: Nekocin  
  
Email: Neko_cin_6@hotmail.com  
  
Genres: Various--- Action and Romance as main genres (I hope Romance wouldn't be so screwed up .).  
  
Type: AU   
  
Anime: Yu-gi-oh   
  
Warnings: Shounen-ai Violence. Maybe some OOC. For this chapter... please be aware that it can be a bit bloody.   
  
Pairings: Seto+Jou/Jou+Seto *still thinking about which one should be seme and which one should be uke*  
  
Rated: PG-13, but might get R ::shrugs::   
  
Disclaimer: Anime in question doesn't belong to me. Never was. Never will.   
  
Author's notes:   
  
Today is my birthday (September 4th) So here's the 1st chapter.  
  
O.O Wow. My first two reviewers have the same ideas. Am I that easy to read or that predictable? Though to answer your questions about who's the murderer... no, he's not. So breath out in relief. Err... one thing wrong about this chapter is that the description sucks and it's a bit slow. ~_~ Sorry, no fluff.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter 1: First day, sixth dead  
  
8:45 A.M.  
  
Sunlight streamed across the neighbourhood. Birds were soaring through the sky, calling out to wake up sleeping people. That day was like any other morning. People left for work, housewives prepared the children for school and the children were ready to go. The streets were filled with cars and pedestrians.  
  
A girl grabbed hold on some beige curtains. She pulled them aside, letting he sunlight into the room. The sunlight beamed into the small room, lighting up the previous dark mood.   
  
Popcorn was scattered all over the floor. Bed sheets were kicked off the bed while a certain dirty-blonde sleepyhead hugged the pillows [1]. The TV was left on and as for the videocassettes... they laid among the fallen bed sheets.   
  
The girl put her hands on her hips and shook her head disapprovingly. Her red-brown hair kissed her face occasionally once she shook her head. "Wake up, onii-chan" she tentatively crawled next to the sleeping figure and shook him gently.  
  
Her brother groaned, finding it annoying to be awaken from such a good night rest. He buried his head in the pillows, which he was hugging, and hoped his sister would leave him alone. He was still too sleepy to notice the time.  
  
Shizuka chuckled and played with her brother's hair, which covered his left ear. She leaned over and smiled when she noticed her brother shivering under her touch.   
  
"Onii-chan, you better get up now. It's 8:50 AM already. You're going to be late or your first day..." she whispered sweetly in his ear.  
  
Katsuya's eyes shot open. He was wide awake and let out a loud gasp. "I'M LATE!" He shouted and jumped off the bed.   
  
Shizuka smiled.   
  
"Old habits die hard"   
  
She watched her brother disappear in the bathroom and chuckled lightly.   
  
"You better hurry up, onii-chan!" Shizuka called out and looked disapprovingly at the scattered mess on the floor.  
  
"GAH! Why didn't you wake me up at 8?" Katsuya complained a moment later. He stumbled out of his bedroom in his new suit with one sock in hand and the other one around one of his feet.   
  
It was his first day to report for duty. And he was supposed to meet his new partner around 9.   
  
Shizuka approached him with a lunch bag and some keys. She'd made lunch just in case he decided to skip it.   
  
"Even if I did that, you wouldn't have woken up after sleeping for just a few hours. You've been watching those movies for too long. Now run along, onii-chan" Shizuka smiled affectionately at him and passed him the lunch bag and keys.   
  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah... wait a sec. You stayed here last night? What about okaa-san? Shouldn't you be heading home?! What will okaa-san say? Does she even know you're here?" Her brother panicked instantly as he stopped slipping on his other sock.  
  
If his mother got worried about where Shizuka might have been, he would be the one to answer her strictness.   
  
"Aa...don't worry, onii-chan. I already told her I'm going to stay here for awhile because I know onii-chan will get the job done" Shizuka waved away his worries with a gesture of her hand and grabbed hold of her brother's arm.   
  
She knew how much their mother would blame him for corrupting Shizuka into slipping away unnoticed.   
  
Katsuya stared wide-eyed at his sister as if he'd just seen her for the first time.   
  
Did that mean he could spend some time with his sister? Wouldn't their mother protest against Shizuka's wishes?  
  
"What are you staring at? It's almost 9 o'clock" Shizuka pushed him out of his apartment and closed the door.   
  
He smiled faintly at the closed door.   
  
"She's going to stay..." he snickered lamely. Sure he'd missed Shizuka's presence after their parents' divorce, but he never really noticed he'd missed her this much. Realization suddenly hit him like a giant hammer on his head. The grin disappeared instantly. "OH NO! I'M LATE!!!"  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
9:30 AM  
  
Katsuya ran through the corridors of the building where he was stationed while muttering curses about being late. His new blue uniform made him feel a bit itchy, but at least it gave off freshness.   
  
He looked a bit dazed as he burst into one of the rooms.  
  
Everyone in the room froze and turned their eyes to the person who'd rudely burst into the room without knocking. Curious pairs of eyes glanced at his direction and he swallowed nervously.   
  
"G-gomenasai. I'm very sorry for being late. I promised it will never happen again" Katsuya bowed apologetically and dropped his eyes embarrassedly. It was not a very good impression to be late one one's first day at work. He just hoped that he wouldn't have to leave the post immediately.  
  
"Jounouchi Katsuya [2], I presume" A voice broke through the silence.  
  
"Yes, sir" He affirmed with a nod and stood up straight.   
  
There were two rows of desks on either left and right side of the room. Both sides were filled with piles of paperwork and some more paperwork. The ones who were working on the papers were divided into two groups.   
  
At the farthest end of the room, which stood across the open door, there was the big desk of namely Chief P.J. Crawford.  
  
The chief was a tall and lanky man with unusual white shoulder-length hair. He gave off the air of confidence and leadership. The only bad thing about the chief was the look in his eyes. There as something about the chief's eyes and it was probably something Katsuya wouldn't want to know.   
  
Katsuya gulped.  
  
Chief Crawford chuckled. "I see why they were eager to put you here"  
  
Katsuya blinked "Huh?"  
  
The chief waved away Katsuya's questioning look and walked elegantly around his desk. Katsuya whimpered inwardly while he watched his new chief heading towards him. The way he strode made Katsuya realize how intimidating chief Crawford might have been during his training. No wonder he was promoted for the head of station 6. His whole appearance demanded respect and obedience.   
  
The chief stopped.   
  
"Next time..." Katsuya winced inwardly, while preparing himself for something like a punishment. "... try to wake up much earlier than 8 o'clock, officer Jounouchi"   
  
His eyes bore into Katsuya's eyes as if forcing the window to his soul to open up. Katsuya blinked and shivered inwardly. "Yes, sir" he responded weakly and nodded quickly.  
  
The chief smiled faintly. "Good. Your new partner is late too, though I've a feeling he might have something burdened on his shoulders at the moment"   
  
Katsuya looked surprised. His new partner was already at work outside? Weren't rookies supposed to be doing paperwork for a few months and then get their permission to roam the busy streets of the city? Who's his partner by the way?  
  
As if having heard Katsuya's questions, the chief just laughed.   
  
"You are his temporary partner, officer Jounouchi. Yuuki Yami [4] has been working here for six years already and is currently available for teaching rookies like yourself about the tough life as a police officer."   
  
"Yuuki Yami, sir?" Katsuya wondered why the name was 'Yuuki Yami'. Because it doesn't sound like any name a parent want to give their sons.   
  
"Mhm. He's someone you can call... a justice cop. You'll feel right at home and... there he is" The chief spoke darkly and darted his eyes away from the new officer.  
  
"Welcome back, agent Yuuki" Chief Crawford announced.  
  
Katsuya froze and cautiously turned around to look at his temporarily, new partner and currently 'teacher'. As if he needed to go to school all over again.   
  
The rookie arched an eyebrow at the agent.   
  
Yuuki Yami was wearing black leather instead of the usual blue uniform. The agent was kind of short, but still looked tall in those expensive leather pants. He was wearing a black T-shirt under a black leather jacket. There was even a spiky collar around his neck.   
  
The way he dressed made Katsuya wonder how much he could miss him in any crowd of street gangs. The whole leather dress made the agent look nothing like an officer who'd been working there for years.   
  
As for the face... a pair of slanted red eyes, tanned skin and strikingly noticeable nose. He even has tri-colored, spiked hair. He looked like a rebel in the dark streets, Katsuya noted. Even so... he'd this nagging feeling that the agent looked familiar.  
  
As if noticing Katsuya's disgusted look, Yuuki Yami smirked at him.   
  
"You must be the rookie they've sent us. I was hoping you would be coming earlier so that you can get to know your colleagues" He gestured at the other officers, who'd been watching their every move from the very beginning. "But I guess you're late"   
  
Katsuya shot him a glare.  
  
"What brings you here so early, agent? I calculated the whole investigation to take a few hours" Chief Crawford crossed his arms and looked amused at the agent.   
  
Agent Yuuki glanced at the chief and scowled.   
  
"Some other agencies decided to poke into my business and they threatened to put me behind bars just because of wearing this" Agent Yuuki gestured to his clothes. Truth was he was proud of his cover, but on the other hand he couldn't resume his research.  
  
"Besides that... I came to pick up officer Jounouchi" He gave Katsuya a sly grin.   
  
Chief shook his head disapprovingly. "Fine. Go on. The rookie needs some practical lessons"  
  
After that Yami lead the rookie to his car, the recognizable small, white car embedded with the well-known police crest. He stopped abruptly and turned around to Katsuya.   
  
"I'm Yuuki Yami. I'll be tutoring you for a few months and then kachou will assign you for a partner. Since our department have uneven officers you just have to wait for a transferred officer or a rookie otherwise you'll be stuck doing the paperwork"   
  
Katsuya nodded dumbly and wondered how out of character he must act just to have some kind of police attitude. Yami flashed him a smile of encouragement. "Don't worry. You'll do just fine. Keep in mind that no matter how hard the task might look like, you can find your way out"   
  
The tone in which Yami spoke didn't suit him with his rebellious look one bit. It was too foreign for people with punk attitudes. Katsuya shrugged off his suspicions and wondered how true the saying goes: 'Don't judge a book by its cover'.  
  
He took a deep breath, "Thank you, sir!"  
  
"Good. Can you drive?"  
  
"I don't have a licence yet. But I think I can, sir"   
  
Yami smiled and threw him the keys. "Good. Starting with your lessons, Jou-kun. You drive while I show you your area to patrol. Maybe you'll get your licence tomorrow morning"   
  
Katsuya grinned giddily, temporarily forgetting whom he was facing. All he could think was the feeling of being in control while he was driving. The feeling of being free from his worries.   
  
Yami cleared his throat and crossed his arms. He noticed the dreamy look in the new officer' eyes. He noted that the rookie loved to drive.   
  
Katsuya blinked a few times and flushed. "I'm sorry, sir"  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A few men looked over something... or rather someone.   
  
The lifeless body was sprawled uncharacteristically on the ground, bathed in his own blood. The victim's eyes were wide as was his mouth. It was like watching a silent death, which unexpectedly crawled out when the victim was alone. The left side of his shoulder was brutally carved open, revealing anything beneath the once flawless skin.  
  
One of the investigators kneeled closer while using his handkerchief to block the smell from going into his nostrils. His sharp, cobalt blue eyes narrowed further as he examined the body closely without touching.   
  
"Who's this person, Mr. Kashima [5]?"   
  
He looked over his shoulder to one of the gathered men behind him.   
  
"Tanaka Koizumi, sir" Mr. Kashima answered as he opened the file which he was holding.   
  
"Tanaka Koizumi... is he also like the others?" inspector Kaiba [6] rose up from his kneeling position and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.   
  
"I'm afraid so, inspector. He's a rookie from station 12. Tanaka-san had just reached his justice level [7]" Mr. Kashima answered solemnly. He pitied the younger officers who'd all befallen in their bad destiny. They'd dedicated their lives to help the authorities and fight crimes. But all they got in return was their death. They were uneducated in the field of practical danger. They were like the green, sour apples among the red, sweet ones [8].  
  
Inspector Kaiba nodded in understanding and let his hands fall on either sides of his body.   
  
"The killer hates the police. That's for sure" He murmured.   
  
"Get me a list of the upcoming rookies and keep and eye on the ones who are participating this year's final exams" Inspector Kaiba commanded and looked up at the skies.   
  
"Yes, sir!" The others made their way to their cars.  
  
There was still no trace of the said murderer, except the dead bodies and the weapons.   
  
How pathetic can this killer be? Killing off the police force was not an option to decrease the crime-fighters. They're getting desperate instead of scared. They're losing their new generation if this particular killer wasn't stopped.   
  
There were too many questions in the air. Why, who, where and when were the most recognizable. Why did the killer hate the police/why did he kill the rookies? Who's this killer? Where will he strike next? And when?  
  
Inspector Kaiba turned away from the body as the paramedics passed him.   
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"It's the 6th rookie that got murdered this month. Whoever this killer might be, he's still not stopping this hide and seek game. Our condolences, family and relatives of Mr. Tanaka Koizumi..."  
  
Shizuka dropped the bowl of lour and brought one hand shakily over her mouth. She was just about to make dinner when the reporter brought out the news of the 6th dead.   
  
For anyone who'd been living there quite awhile, would definitely think it's old news. But Shizuka had just moved in to her brother's apartment. The news had shocked her to no end.   
  
She remembered saying something about her brother's first day. He wa also a rookie cop which meant the killer's next victim might be him. Her hands began to shake as she quickly backed herself towards the kitchen sink.   
  
"Onii-chan... "She whispered and sank down on the tiled floor.   
  
Maybe it was really a bad idea for staying here, otherwise onii-chan or the others wouldn't have to suffer such a brutal fate. Wasn't it her fault? Was she some kind of curse? Or was bad luck following her?  
  
But on the other hand... she'd never stopped believing in her brother. Ever since they were kids, she would look up to him. He was someone who couldn't lie without making it the truth. She knew he worked hard to gain whatever his heart desired except maybe... keeping her close instead of being separated or such a long time.  
  
Shizuka calmed herself down and looked worriedly at the mess she'd made. "Onii-chan will survive" she chanted a mantra and willed herself to move. She didn't want her brother to see her like this. So broken.   
  
She started cleaning the floor though her mind was elsewhere. She hoped her brother might return home safely tonight or even this afternoon.  
  
*.*.*.*.* End chapter 1*.*.*.*.*  
  
End notes:  
  
1: To be honest, I always count people who have hair color like Jou dirty-blondes. I'm not sure what the color is called, but I'll find out soon enough.   
  
2: Okay, I think his name is "Jounouchi Katsuya" Katsuya is his first name while the Jounouchi is his last.  
  
3: Hehehehe ^_^;; That's copied from Taiho Shichauzo! (You're under arrest!). I love their arrangement. In my story "Hello stranger" it almost have the same arrangement too.  
  
4: -_____-;;; Lame name. Almost like Yugi's name. ::shrugs:: Besides it means "courage".  
  
5: Those who know the yaoi manga "Love mode" You all know who he is ^_~.  
  
6: XD Ack! Doesn't it sound a bit cheesy? Or am I using the wrong word 9_9?  
  
7: Just don't ask. I just put it there because I've a computer game about cops and such where they have those levels.  
  
8: ~_~;; Don't kill me if it isn't true. I'm trying to fit the whole thing in the storyline.  
  
r*a*d*i*a*n*y: ^_^; I know it's a bit OOC. ::looks shock:: I can't let that happen. Seto isn't going to kill Jou. That's just a mysterious beginning ^_~. As for the seme issue... I guess we'll just have to see what this story might bring. Thank you for reviewing.   
  
Angel-Belle: #^_^# Thank you. I know it can be awful if Seto is the murderer. There are a lot of bounded consequences. Thank you for reviewing.  
  
Gah ~.~ I told you it's a bit slow. But please don't kill me yet, asking for fluff. I'm trying to fit everything together with all sorts of genres... if I can manage. Thank you for reading ^__^.   
  
=^_^=cin 


	3. Chapter 2: Chase the game

Title: Haima  
  
Author: Nekocin  
  
Email: Neko_cin_6@hotmail.com  
  
Genres: Various--- Action and Romance as main genres (I hope Romance wouldn't be so screwed up .).  
  
Type: AU   
  
Anime: Yu-gi-oh   
  
Warnings: Shounen-ai Violence. Maybe some OOC. For this chapter... none  
  
Pairings: Seto+Jou... maybe some implied pairings.  
  
Rated: PG-13  
  
Disclaimer: Anime in question doesn't belong to me. Never was. Never will.   
  
Author's notes:   
  
This is a follow up of chapter 1. Pretty lame for another try of action, but please... don't run away yet. ^_^ Sankyuu to everyone who read my (sort of) first Yugioh fiction ^_^. You can all check "Let rain wash over" please. It's a one-shot, but it's placed in the "Weiss Kreuz" category. That fic can actually apply for Yugioh too or any other anime, you know?  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter 2: Chase the game  
  
12:05 PM  
  
A small police car was racing down the streets, occasionally swerving around other cars. The car tires screeched loudly, disturbing the usual noises the engines made. The police car was chasing a red BMW, which sped with great speed through the crowd of cars.   
  
Light indigo eyes narrowed into slits as the owner cursed. "Damn it! Where are the others? He's getting away!"   
  
His eyes never left the back of the car, which he was chasing. He was well aware how dangerous he was driving. The screeching of the car tires made it clear. Especially when they're in the middle of a crowded street.   
  
His partner was clutching his seat tightly while whimpering when his partner swerved the wheel mercilessly. He felt being thrown like a ragged doll from one side to the other. His purple eyes were wide in fright and glanced at his fuming partner. "M-maybe t-they're on their way?" he responded weakly.  
  
"CALL THEM!!" The driver threw his partner a walkie-talkie (1)  
  
"H-hai"  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
12:10 PM  
  
"I think you're holding back, Jounouchi-san. Your hands are shivering anxiously" Yami pointed out. "Why is that? Are you scared of me?"  
  
"Do I have permission to tell the truth, sir?" Katsuya took a shaky breath as he smiled hopefully. This entire keeping out of character was making his worries increase rapidly. It was a wonder how he could keep his mouth shut throughout their ride. He'd refrained himself from kicking into full speed and giving his partner a shock of his life. He wanted to feel the energy electrifying his body.   
  
"Yes"  
  
"It's because my hands are craving for the adrenaline. The speed. The wind. The horror..." Katsuya grinned giddily and was quickly cut off when an unknown voice squeaked out.   
  
"This is officer Mutou speaking. We've a problem here at Area F. Our suspect had just escaped us in a red BMW... Hello? Do you copy? We need some help here!" The walkie-talkie made funny sounds while the message was brought out.   
  
Katsuya blinked at the road while Yami's eyes went wide.  
  
"Isn't area F...?" Katsuya wondered out loud.  
  
Yami grabbed hold on the walkie-talkie.   
  
"Don't worry, aibou. We're on our way" He shouted out and grabbed hold on the wheel. He pulled desperately on the wheel, trying to turn the car towards the busy street. The tires screeched while the small car made a sharp turn.  
  
"Hit it, Jounouchi-san!" The peaceful look was scrunched into a predatory one. The red eyes were flaring with anxiety. His eyebrows were knitted in concentration. Katsuya grinned, ignoring the fact how scary his teacher looked.  
  
The small car sped through the empty street towards the busy main street. The wheel was being turned mercilessly as the car tires shred their way over the hard-asphalted ground.   
  
Yami was gripping the door tightly as he searched for their annoying escapade.   
  
"Yami? Where are you?" officer Mutou's voice rang through the walkie-talkie.   
  
"Sir, do I have permission to ride at full speed?" He wanted adrenaline to flow through his veins. The tingling in his feet and arms were screaming at him to do it NOW.   
  
"He's coming right at us!!!" Yami shouted, not even hearing Katsuya's question.   
  
Everything went in a blur. Katsuya raced his way through the busy street. Other cars honked in anger once the police car began to make their way in front of them.  
  
Yami climbed from his seat on the window and took out a gun. He held tightly on the handle, which was fastened above the front seat. It provided him some security that he wouldn't fall off the car during a car chase.   
  
The strong wind whipped across his face. Yami's eyes darted towards the racing red BMW and eyed the front road occasionally. The rookie was definitely going at full speed, turning the wheel madly one side to the other. It was a wonder how happy the rookie looked using the full speed.   
  
It was not long after that; Katsuya glanced from the corners of his eyes at the oblivious driver in the red BMW. He grinned excitedly and swerved the wheel, pumping the speed into the engines.   
  
They were approaching an empty intersection of the road.   
  
"Hey, sir. We could race him towards the interaction and shoot!" Katsuya shouted. Before Yami could even answer, Katsuya quickly made his way to the front, not even glancing back at the red BMW. Yami considered the odds and evens for a while and held his gun close. He would trust his rookie's plan just this once.   
  
Not long afterwards Katsuya raced into the middle of the empty interaction and swerved the heel into a terrifying, screeching stop. It was Yami's turn then. He glanced at the cars, which were approaching the interaction.  
  
Only the red BMW raced out of the crowd while the other commoners looked stunned at the reckless police car. Yami aimed the gun at the front glass and pulled the trigger a few times.   
  
Katsuya watched in awe and disappointment at the agent's move. Of course the agent had a good aim, but the thing was the gun couldn't kill [2]. Orange goo came out instead of a rain of bullets.  
  
The driver in the red BMW shrieked in surprise when he couldn't see through the orange goo. He swung the wheel around frantically as screeching car tires met his ears. Fortunately for everyone and unfortunately for the driver the car came to a full stop.  
  
Yami smirked and held the gunpoint upwards. "BAM!"  
  
Katsuya was breathing heavily as a grin grazed his troubled face. He could feel how his heart was pounding rapidly and how the sweat was sliding down his forehead. But it was worth the chase.  
  
Another police car sped its way out of the stunned crowd and screeched to a hard stop. Two other officers ran out of the car and aimed their guns at the shocked driver in the red BMW.   
  
"You think you can escape us?" one of the officers snarled as he grabbed hold of the man's collar. The man mumbled something incoherently.  
  
"Aibou!" Yami called out and jumped out of the window.   
  
Katsuya blinked as he watched his teacher approach the other officer. Did his temporary partner give another officer a pet name? Or was it just familiarity?  
  
"Jounouchi-san, please take care of the traffic!" Yami called out over his shoulder and turned to smile at the shorter officer.  
  
"Hai!"   
  
Katsuya came out of the car and put a whistle between his lips. He blew hard once.   
  
"Keep moving. Keep moving. Thank you for your corporation" Katsuya called out as he motioned the cars to pass. Having learned some traffic moving signs, he waved his left arm and held his right arm to the right in shoulder length.   
  
The feeling of speeding up under his touch was still there as Katsuya grinned good-naturedly at the passing cars.  
  
"How is Malik to you? Yami asked worriedly as he steadily stared into the shorter officer's eyes.   
  
"He's fine, Yami Although I would want to sit behind the wheel again than being thrown around like an empty can" Yugi smiled brightly at him. He looked over at the stranger in blue uniform. "Is that...?"   
  
Yami smiled while looking over his shoulder.   
  
"Jounouchi-san!"  
  
Katsuya looked up when he was called and quickly made his way to the older agents.   
  
"Jounouchi-san, I want you to meet Mutou Yugi, my previous partner" Yami introduced as he smirked mischievously at someone familiar on the sidewalk. A certain blue-eyed rich guy.  
  
"Nice to meet you" both Katsuya and Yugi bowed respectfully, not even noticing agent Yuuki was staring at someone from the sidewalk.   
  
"You're a great driver, Jounouchi-san" Yugi commented and flashed him a smile. Katsuya noted that somehow Yugi looked a lot like Yami except for the eyes and the height. He wondered if they were related.  
  
"Let's get this over with! I'm agent Ishtar. Now come on, agent Mutou! The thug might want to escape in my car!" the anonymous officer called out impatiently while he set foot into the small police car.   
  
"Hai! Sorry about that, agent Ishtar[3]!" Yugi called out and ran back into the car, which he and agent Ishtar shared. The car sped away all the while letting the others see a faint wave from Yugi's side.   
  
Katsuya jammed his hands into his pockets. "So... am I still getting a ticket for racing down the street like a maniac without a licence?" He asked nervously. The ground suddenly looked interesting, maybe even those new black-polished shoes of his. Shiny white s adored the black shoes' noses. Aa... how clean.  
  
Yami blinked a few times. So the rookie still knew the traffic rules after all. "Maybe we should just forget that. You'll get your licence first thing in the morning".   
  
Yami walked past the nervous rookie and went into the small car. "Let's go!"  
  
"H-hai!" Katsuya grinned widely without facing his temporary partner and turned around.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
12:30 PM  
  
"Energy flows through your lines, young one" A few photos of Katsuya walking back to the car were being taken.   
  
Someone was watching from the rood of a nearby building as he put down the photo camera. He'd witnessed the whole chase and was slightly surprised that the driver was merely a rookie. Most rookies can't stand the speed between such a big crowd. They were afraid of getting anyone injured once they hit the speed. This rookie was definitely into dangers, he noted.   
  
To make it even unbelievable the kid loved the ride. He could tell by the healthy smile the rookie had flashed the other drivers, which went unnoticed by the other officers.  
  
He smiled.  
  
"You're too easy".   
  
He hid his camera in his trench coat and turned around. We never got to see his face. A smirk was plastered on his face as he jumped down from the roof [4].  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
12:15 PM  
  
Inspector Kaiba flipped through his folders all the while glancing at the traffic. There were too many cars in the main street.   
  
He hoped he could get this killer soon before they've to lose another rookie from their force. Its a waste to wash away the rookies just because they were inexperienced in the practical world. If it got worse, the murderer might want to kill off the whole force slowly. Just like some torture and let all the commoners lose faith in their city's police force.   
  
Where were the survivors?  
  
The screeching of car tires caught his attention. He looked up at the traffic and faintly caught sight of three cars zooming past at full speed.   
  
"Stupid drivers! Don't they know the rules?!" He cursed and looked for an opportunity to blend into the traffic. He cursed silently and headed into the main street, blending himself smoothly between all the other cars.   
  
He watched as two police cars chasing a red BMW. A familiar tri-colored agent climbed out into view and sat on the window.   
  
"Agent Yuuki" inspector Kaiba smirked, finding it a bit too funny that he recognized the agent in the leather dress. But what if it's his partner, officer Mutou? Those two looked so alike, but weren't the same.   
  
Inspector Kaiba squashed that thought. Officer Mutou was always behind the wheels. He raised an eyebrow as the police car, where he recognized agent Yuuki sped past the red BMW with full speed.   
  
"Reckless driver that Mutou! Doesn't he now the rules?" inspector Kaiba swore and tried to keep up with either of the police cars. He anted an alibi to send those reckless officers into shame. Of course he helped them once in awhile especially since the murder case resolved around the police force. But just for the fun he would teach them traffic rules.  
  
Suddenly the whole stream of cars stopped moving. Inspector Kaiba frowned and stepped out of his car. An impatient driver honked rudely and sped past him. The inspector faintly caught another familiar sight: Officer Ishtar and... officer Mutou?   
  
"What's going on?" he muttered and ran past the curious pedestrians. Wasn't agent Mutou with agent Yuuki? What's Mutou doing with Ishtar?  
  
He was just in time to watch agent Ishtar and agent Mutou aiming a gun at the red BMW's chauffeur. Agent Yuuki jumped from the car and called out to agent Mutou. He then called out something incoherently over his shoulder.   
  
Definitely THAT reckless driver. The driver got out of the car and blew hard on the whistle. He started waving to the commoners to resume their way down the street.  
  
Inspector Kaiba frowned at the back of the anonymous officer's head. Dirty-blonde hair? He didn't know many officers with dirty-blonde hair. Except maybe agent Ishtar's hair... if his hair was dirty blonde too.  
  
Agent Yuuki called out to the anonymous officer, who turned around in response. Inspector Kaiba narrowed his eye, trying to take a good look at the stranger. "Definitely a new face" he muttered.  
  
Agent Yuuki said something to both officers and flashed HIM a smirk. The red eyes caught the sharp cobalt bleu ones. The inspector glared at the rebellious-looking agent all the while wondering how the agent could spot him so easily.   
  
He took one last look at the new officer and headed back to where he'd left his car. Cars that passed by began to honk angrily at him.  
  
"Don't you know how to park your car, pal?" "Move the f****** vehicle, mister!" And all sorts of anger speeches were hurled at him.  
  
He paid no attention to the angry common folk and stepped into his car. The inspector glanced at the folders on the seat next to him. He slowly picked out one of them and flipped it open.   
  
"Jounouchi Katsuya... [5]" The inspector read in a whisper and eyed the small photo which was attached to the first page.   
  
Smiling brown eyes stared unaffectedly at him. The dirty-blonde hair looked suspiciously like the same anonymous officer's hair.   
  
He scanned the statistics and smirked. He could sue station 6 with the scene he'd just witnessed: disturbances in the traffic. But for now he should keep track on the upcoming rookies. Their lives were being threatened without a reason.   
  
His car mingled with the other cars.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
13:00 PM  
  
"I'm sorry I'm late, sir"  
  
"It's okay. Are you ready to go now?"  
  
"Yes, sir"  
  
"Good. Let's go"  
  
"... uhm... Where are we going, sir?"  
  
"You'll see..."  
  
"A restaurant?!"  
  
"Hn. Let's eat"   
  
"Hai"  
  
"Afterwards what will you do? Anything in mind?"  
  
"Nothing I can think of, sir. Why do you ask, sir?"  
  
"It's because I've already made plans for tonight" [6]  
  
*.*.*.*.* End chapter 2*.*.*.*.*  
  
End notes:  
  
1: -_-;; I know that's a bit too... inconvenient, but I've no idea what to use... so let's continue it with that old thing, please?  
  
2: Picked this one out from "Taiho Shichauzo" ^-^ It's much safer to use that gun in my opinion. Oh... the stance where Yami must sit on the window and such was also taken from "Taiho Shichauzo" ^-^. So it doesn't belong to me.  
  
3: I believe that Malik wouldn't want Yugi to call him "Ishtar-san" or anything that familiar.  
  
4: ^_^ Okay... the guy won't die there. He would have to be so stupid just to jump down from a building. But no... he's not stupid.   
  
5: Let's just say it's just a coincidence. But no... it's not at first sight. He's just checking out the files.   
  
6: That's supposed to be the mystery scene where the 'killer' and his victim are talking. The 'sir' part is just a hint *winks*  
  
Responses:  
  
Jou-pup: O.O You did? Aa... don't worry ^_^. Those questions might get their answers once you read on ^_^ *winks* -__-;; They're OOC if that's what you mean to say? Hmmm... I'll think that's an option for the standard pairing^_^. Thank you *munches on cookie* Sankyuu for reviewing ^_^  
  
bunny: ^_^ Sankyuu for reviewing. ^_^ I'm glad it's not so bad... even though it's kind of slow in my opinion.  
  
Split Persona-The Ones and Onlies: O.O Wow, what an interesting long name ^-^. Aa... you got me. Of course he's sort of a victim ^_^. Thank you... I've just recently edited it. Whenever I use the officer name I always use the family name, so... it wouldn't sound so bad once I know Katsuya's family name. Sankyuu for reviewing ^_^.   
  
Angel-Belle: *shrugs* Oh well, I know not a lot of people like the way I work and all. I'm still trying to polish the style and the story does seem a bit slow, don't you think? But it's okay with me if I don't get tons of them *goes to a corner to cry* I was kind of hoping for some critics and all. ^-^ I love AU. Most my stories are Aus *reads previous chapters* Hehehe... I didn't find any clues that made everyone suspect it's Kaiba killing someone O.o. Sankyuu for reviewing ^_^.  
  
I know it's kind of lame to put the first scene there, but don't worry... I'll put mystery in the next chapter too.   
  
=^_^=cin 


	4. Chapter 3: Roses are red

Title: Haima  
  
Author: Nekocin  
  
Email: Neko_cin_6@hotmail.com  
  
Genres: Various--- Action and Romance as main genres (I hope Romance wouldn't be so screwed up .).  
  
Type: AU   
  
Anime: Yu-gi-oh   
  
Warnings: Shounen-ai, Violence. Maybe some OOC. In this chapter OOC  
  
Pairings: Seto+Jou... in this chapter none  
  
Rated: PG-13  
  
Disclaimer: Anime in question doesn't belong to me. Never was. Never will.   
  
Author's notes:   
  
Okay, here's the next chapter. It's a bit cheesy and weird . Especially when I'm not even sure if you all can agree with this chapter. So *crosses fingers* here's hoping that this chapter fits with the rest. Oh by the way, I've always believed that Katsuya is not an idiot. So he's a bit OOC when it comes to this AU story of mine. Beware of his brains :P.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter 3: Roses are red...  
  
23:00 PM  
  
Katsuya jammed the key into the keyhole and turned it around. He slowly pushed open the front door and yawned. "I'm... " he said weakly and yawned again.  
  
After the chase, kachou Crawford had put him behind a pile of paperwork. His colleagues were great. Everyone was helpful except for the icy, silver-haired jerk named... uh... Haku Bakura [1]. The guy kept criticizing every little word he read from Katsuya's report. Agent Haku had made him write over every report. The guy harassed him constantly about this and that.   
  
Luckily there was Kujaku Mai, a beautiful blonde female officer, who defended him from agent Haku. But after the whole harassing and being defended, Katsuya just chose to work hard on the report anyways. He wrote so fast that his fingers turned purple.  
  
"Onii-chan!" Shizuka exclaimed and threw her arms around his neck.   
  
"Oh, hey Shizuka. What's up?" he smiled weakly and rubbed his soar arm absentmindedly.   
  
"I'm glad you're safe, brother. This morning there was news about the sixth dead this month. All of the previous victims were rookies. I'm worried, onii-chan" Shizuka pulled away and dropped her eyes.   
  
Katsuya noticed the sour look on his sister's face and carefully cupped her face between his hands.  
  
"Why are you scared, Shizuka?" He tilted her head up.   
  
Her eyes began to water. "The killer might take you next. It's all my fault"  
  
Katsuya shook his head and smiled softly.   
  
"Don't be silly. The murders started months ago. Are you sure about the killer going after rookies? The question is how can he know I'm a rookie if I'm going to be next? But on which field did the reporter mean anyways? There are dozens of rookies living here... so just don't blame yourself for something this vain" He pulled her into an embrace and stroke her red-brown hair.  
  
"I'm sorry, onii-chan" she whispered into his shirt.  
  
"Don't apologize for something you didn't do, Shizuka" Katsuya murmured and hummed a song that popped into his mind. He hoped it might soothe her.  
  
"Mother always said some event were my fault. The separation was partly my fault and then mother's first son with uncle was also my fault. I didn't look after him like you'd looked after me. He'd gotten more bruises over his arms and legs than mine. There are more blames... but right now I can't think of anything" Shizuka whispered as she gripped his shirt tightly.  
  
Katsuya froze when she mentioned this and stopped humming.   
  
"... Sometimes mother forgets I'm her daughter too..." [2]  
  
He hugged his sister affectionately and looked up at the ceiling.   
  
The day when their mother separated them, he never saw her again. Maybe he did once in awhile, but she would just ignore his presence. It was as if she'd forgotten she even had a big son or as if she wouldn't acknowledge him as her own.   
  
Having parents who neglected his needs and upbringing, it was a wonder how he'd made it through school and the strict police training. It was like another challenge. A fight till the bitter end where he would come out as the victor. He wondered how he did end up being successful.  
  
"Nothing is going to happen to me, Shizuka. I'll survive"   
  
He pushed her gently away and smiled down at her.   
  
"I believe you, onii-chan" She smiled back.   
  
"If I've not survived, you can come after me with a mallet and hunt me down whenever you like" Katsuya chuckled and touched the point of her nose affectionately.   
  
"Don't talk like that!" she gasped out.   
  
"I know. I know. So what's for dinner?" Katsuya laughed heartily, hoping that the previous tension would disappear if he spoke about his appetite.   
  
Shizuka beamed and took off his jacket.   
  
"I did my best, onii-chan. I hope it's fine"   
  
"I'll eat anything you cook" Katsuya smiled, taking off his shoes and then slipping into indoor slippers.   
  
"I'll go set the table!" Shizuka called and left him at the front door.   
  
Katsuya scratched the back of his neck and ran his fingers through his hair. He sighed and blinked at the opened door. He must have forgotten to close the door when Shizuka welcomed him.   
  
He stuck his head out and looked at both directions of the hall.   
  
How suspicious. Didn't he just get this feeling of being watched?   
  
Katsuya shrugged when he found the halls empty and closed the door with a click. He took one last look at the closed door and frowned.   
  
Why was anyone following him here? Was it a stalker? Was it some secret admirer? Or... were they after his sister? Damn. He'd left Shizuka all alone in his apartment without supervision.  
  
What if someone broke in and kidnapped her? Or raped her? Or killed her?   
  
The horror was written all over his paled face.   
  
What must he do?   
  
"Onii-chan! Dinner is ready!" Shizuka called out, snapping him out of his troubled thoughts.   
  
"HAI!!" he responded and with a determined face he went into the kitchen where dinner was set.   
  
The first thing he would do was to bring Shizuka alone with him to the station so that she wouldn't have to be alone.   
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
23:40 PM  
  
A lone shadow watched them from afar. He was using his binoculars to watch the whole affectionate scene from a distance. He smirked and put away the binoculars into his jacket. The two really seemed close to each other.   
  
"The kid must be already married to her,"[3] he murmured to no one in particular.   
  
He turned around and made his way out of the apartment in which he was staying. He picked out a bunch of red roses from the nearby table and went outside.  
  
A guy was outside, waiting for him. He was tall indeed; but nothing was revealed other than his green eyes. He was wearing the famous teenager's t-shirts and a pair of faded jeans.   
  
His almond green eyes twinkled when the lone figure arrived with a big bush of red roses.  
  
"What are those roses for, sir? For your wife?"  
  
"No. I'm not married. It's for you. I've found them in my mailbox" was the answer.  
  
He smiled at the younger guy and passed him the roses.  
  
The latter looked confused at the red roses. Having no idea why most people have this fetish for red roses just because they were romantic, he shrugged and nodded his thanks [4].   
  
Brushing aside such a suspicious gift was not the best idea in the world.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
23:00 PM  
  
"I'm home" The inspector announced and looked at the dark front parlor. Noting from the lack of light his younger brother might not be at home.   
  
He took off his shoes and slipped into a pair of comfortable indoor slippers. He sighed sleepily and took off his large trench coat. Afterwards he walked up the huge stairs with a pile of folders in his hands.   
  
"Better get this over with before he bastard takes down the whole force" he mumbled while rubbing his temples. He had a hard day.   
  
He opened the door to his office and switched on the headlights on his desk. The inspector dropped down on his big chair and checked for missed calls. He'd been through a lot that day.  
  
First the murder case, then checking out some files, then getting curious about three reckless drivers, then fumbling around with the trainee's examination schedule, then researching the upcoming rookies and exams participants, then the usual planning how to fit the clues together and then the hearing of everyday usual crimes like street robberies, missing items etcetera.  
  
One may wonder why a rich guy like him work as an inspector. The answer was simple. He anted action.   
  
"Hello, onii-chan. It's me, Mokuba. Look, I won't be coming home tonight like you expect me to. I've to finish this assignment with my group since it's due tomorrow. So in a way I'm staying over at a friend's house. Please don't wait up for me and please get some sleep. You looked awful this morning. Having two jobs is giving you too much stress. Just pick one already! Anyways... bye!"   
  
The inspector looked up from his laptop and smiled when he heard his younger brother's message. Hearing the younger youth's voice made him feel at ease.   
  
The younger Kaiba was studying at one of Japan's finest University [5]. Mokuba was aiming for the medic classes. He'd wanted to study medicines and such.   
  
Inspector Kaiba sighed and listened absentmindedly to the next few missed calls. All of them were the usual upcoming meetings and news about the Kaiba Company. At least he did a great job on giving his younger brother a lot of opportunities to choose his future instead of one big onii-chan to hover around his life.  
  
Unlike him, Mokuba would definitely do something he chooses to do with his own free will. He instead got stuck with the family business and a job that was also as stressful as the family business.   
  
Inspector Kaiba booted his laptop and started scanning his projects. He noticed there were a few changes in his work. Must have been Mokuba helping a hand, he noted and began tapping the keys, resuming his unfinished project as a CEO [6].  
  
Not long after delving himself into the Kaiba Company's business a small bell chimed, letting him know he got a new mail. The inspector froze in his work. He looked up at the clock on his computer screen.   
  
00:30 AM  
  
It was time.  
  
He stopped working on his project and clicked open the unread message. His cobalt-blue eyes narrowed instantly as he concentrated on the italic message.   
  
"Tell me dear,  
  
if roses are red  
  
bathed in fear  
  
and covered in sweat  
  
what's the only thing in mind  
  
that an make me this hard to find?"  
  
The inspector read the first verse and frowned. Why is this killer always notifying him with riddles and bunch of nonsense rhymes? Now that he thought about it, how did the killer know his e-mail address? He scanned the rest of his message.  
  
"As for the rest of the sweet phrase  
  
don't worry, it will come.  
  
Just hope you can race  
  
because my treat had yet begun.  
  
If it may, if it might  
  
I know I'm making sense here.  
  
Roll up your sleeve and take up our fight.  
  
You know I'll win, you know I'm near.  
  
How may I say this  
  
how may you figure it  
  
how about just this kiss  
  
and then the kid?" [7]  
  
The inspector narrowed his eyes at the message and read the whole message all over again. He tried to make some sense in the riddle. He grumbled impatiently and clicked on different messages from the same sender.   
  
Why he didn't check out the whole Internet network searching for the killer's identity was because he'd already done that. But the smallest clues led him to a dead end. The killer knew how to erase his tracks completely. Amazing. He was like a hacker behind a killer's mask.   
  
He went to the message that was sent days before Tanaka Koizumi's murder. The killer always sends him a riddle a few days before he kills his victims. The inspector noted that maybe the killer was choosing his victims beforehand and sent him the little clues. The clues that hardly made sense. But why notify him? Especially at 00:30 AM?   
  
"Have you found what you crave  
  
in the middle of one's work?  
  
I don't think so. You're still stuck in your cave  
  
ordering around, hovering around senseless junk, aren't you, you jerk?  
  
Boiled in anger, sweetened in taste  
  
just look at him: eyes wide, mouth open. The lifeless face..."   
  
Inspector Kaiba rubbed his chin thoughtfully and noted that the killer really had this fetish of 'modeling' his victims just like in his message. He sighed and ran his fingers through his brown hair.   
  
He glanced at the folders, which he'd dropped haphazardly on the table. Maybe if he checked out all of the rookies first and then notify the older officers to look after them then maybe... just maybe they could save the younger ones.   
  
Setting up a trap for the murderer's next move was out of the game. Sometimes whenever he wanted to set a trap, it always seemed as if the killer was one step ahead. The murderer would always escape them in front of their noses. The murderer must have a lot of ears here and there.   
  
The inspector snorted and flipped open one of the folders.   
  
"Just great! About ten rookies are stationed while the rest of the five hundred and thirty ones are going to be stationed" he muttered darkly and flipped to the next few pages. Most of the contents were about the rookies' scores on their exams.   
  
Quite impressive scores for a certain someone named Tenryuu Reiji [8]. The guy looked like a police officer already in his graduation attire: the black uniform.   
  
Broad shoulders adorned with a finely shaped head on top. Big, slanted penetrating green eyes and in between a crooked nose. During his physical training he must have broken it.   
  
It was a shame though; the inspector really thought he would look handsome in the famous blue, police uniform.   
  
Too bad... Tenryuu could've been one great officer. He got shot though the head a few months ago.   
  
The inspector wondered why he was checking on the lists of dead rookies that had been killed. He grabbed a different folder and flipped it open. He instantly froze.   
  
It was the same file of the intriguing, dirty-blonde-haired driver that afternoon. He'd caught himself reading the rookie's statistics a few times [9]. He frowned. Why, was the question he wondered. Why was he so interesting? Maybe it must be the fact that officer Jounouchi came from a broken family?   
  
Because it seemed like the rookie had registered himself for the training school. His father had died of too much alcohol when the rookie was still ten. It couldn't have been his father. His mother wasn't an option. She'd left him for Okinawa [10] when he was six.   
  
Or maybe must have been the fact that the rookie was a driving maniac without a licence? All in all the rookie sounded interesting. The inspector just had this feeling that maybe, just maybe it had something to do with the rookie's surviving skills in life [11].  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
00:40 AM  
  
Chief Crawford sucked in the taste of the cigarette in his mouth and closed his eyes briefly. He turned away from the computer on his desk and opened his eyes to look out at the dark night. Stars were twinkling weakly compared to the city lights.   
  
Tonight was going to be quiet like the previous nights, he noted.   
  
The chief of station 6 blew out the smoke and sighed contently.   
  
"You know, it could've been better than this" he spoke out and waved his hand around, explaining his meaning to no one in particular.   
  
He grabbed hold on one of the reports and scanned the contents. He chuckled lightly when he noticed some vague scribbles here and there. Agent Haku must have been harassing the rookie about his handwriting and his usage of words for a whole hour.   
  
He hoped the rookie wouldn't leave the post just because of a certain silver-haired agent that loved to criticize everyone in the office. It would be a shame if the rookie was such a coward.  
  
A malicious smile crept out of his lips as he dipped away the ashes. It would be fun to watch him suffer under station 6's most annoying AGENTS.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
00:50 AM  
  
Somewhere in a small apartment a certain brown-eyed, dirty-blonde rookie sneezed [12] a few times while he was munching down his sister's cooking.  
  
"Are you alright, onii-chan?" shizuka asked worriedly.   
  
Katsuya looked a bit dazed, but smiled brightly. "Of course I am"   
  
"I must have put too much pepper in the food. I'm sorry" Shizuka bowed apologetically.   
  
"Oh no, no, no, no. It wasn't the pepper that made me sneeze" Katsuya smiled reassuringly and wondered why would anyone want to talk about him when he's at least nice to everyone.   
  
*.*.*.*.* End chapter 3*.*.*.*.*  
  
End notes:  
  
1: -_-;; Just like "Yuuki Yami". A lame name for Yami Bakura -_-;; but this is AU so it really doesn't matter ^_^;;  
  
2: Please be very aware this is AU and the mother is quite OOC. Of course I know Shizuka's mother wouldn't treat her like that, right? Right?  
  
3: Let's keep it like the killer doesn't know about Katsuya's sister living with him. He only knows that Katsuya's family had been broken a long time ago.  
  
4: *winks* I'll spoil you people. Here's the hint. *winks*  
  
5: Insert a name for the school. Any name... I'm not even sure if Japan has one of the greatest Universities there x_x.  
  
6: XD How stressful, eh? And this is OOC too in my opinion. This guy sounds like a real work-a-holic in my story. Aa... x_x his back.   
  
7: XD Cheesy, isn't it? Or was it crappy? ^_^;; But anyways, it's still a riddle... I just wrote it, tried to rhyme a bit and voila! Quick work there ^_^;;.  
  
8: XD Just a name, but we won't see him around.  
  
9: XP Nope, no "love at first sight here". Never believed in that phrase, nu-uh. Not going to be that reason.  
  
10: Can't think of any good cities.  
  
11: Yep. There's the Katsuya I want to create. Survival till the fittest :D quoted from a certain swordsman. He's no wimp or wuss.  
  
12: XD Okay, it's sort of a habit of putting some sneezing in my works. In Japan they believe when someone is talking about you behind your back, you sneeze. XD How superstitious, ne?  
  
Jou-pup: ^_^ I see you've noticed the OOC. Does this chapter explain your suspicions? :P I know it's stressful to have two jobs but can you blame this work-a-holic? Lol. Anyways sankyuu for reviewing again ^-^.  
  
Angel-Belle: Close ^-^. It's very easy with the 'sir' part, ne? Right now I really want to kill someone :D It sounds just right to do so in this story. Sankyuu for reviewing.  
  
~_~ Can't believe my notes are THIS long. x_x Sorry for the inconvenience. And GRRR... the story is still slow.  
  
=^_^=cin 


	5. Chapter 4: violets are blue

Title: Haima  
  
Author: Nekocin  
  
Email: Neko_cin_6@hotmail.com  
  
Genres: Various--- Action and Romance as main genres (I hope Romance wouldn't be so screwed up .).  
  
Type: AU   
  
Anime: Yu-gi-oh   
  
Warnings: Shounen-ai, Violence. Maybe some OOC. In this chapter OOC  
  
Pairings: Seto+Jou... in this chapter some Yami Bakura+Ryou hints.  
  
Rated: PG-13  
  
Disclaimer: Anime in question doesn't belong to me. Never was. Never will.   
  
Author's notes:   
  
I'm still working my way to the Seto+Jou pairing and moments, but it might take a lot longer than all of you might expect. :( So I'll apologize for those who want a quick Seto+Jou fluff. I can write fluff between them somewhere in the next few chapters, but there aren't a lot of interactions between them :( Gomen. I don't like things getting rushed...  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter 4: ...violets are blue  
  
7:50 AM  
  
"Onii-chan, you look great in them!" Shizuka commented as they walked down the halls of station 6.   
  
Of course Shizuka was eager to follow her big brother to work that day. She didn't know why her brother was making such a fuzz about her safety.  
  
Katsuya grinned at his own attire. "I know I look good"   
  
He knocked on the door and straightened his back. Better look formal before kachou gets annoyed.   
  
"Don't worry. I'll talk to chief about you being around or a while"   
  
Shizuka nodded enthusiastically. Katsuya took a deep breath and opened the door cautiously.  
  
"SURPRISE!!!"  
  
Katsuya yelped in shock and Shizuka clung to him for protection. He felt his hair springing on end that instant.  
  
The other officers' faces fell when they saw the rookie with someone anonymous holding his sleeve tightly.   
  
"Uh... h-hey guys... what's up?" Katsuya said weakly as he tried to get over the shock. He held his sister close just in case.   
  
A certain silver-haired agent with slanted brown eyes [1] pulled both of them roughly inside. He looked over at the halls and quickly slammed the doors closed.   
  
"Just move over, Jounouchi!" the agent growled and turned his back to the siblings.   
  
"What's with him?" Shizuka whispered nervously when both of them looked confused at each other.   
  
"No idea" Katsuya shrugged and looked over at his colleagues. They all wore apologetic looks on their faces. They were sorry that the rookie got scolded without doing something wrong.  
  
"Sorry, Jounouchi-san. Today's agent Bakura's birthday and agent Haku had planned the whole surprise party" agent Mutou whispered to both of them as they were ushered towards the back of the room.   
  
"That's so nice of him" Shizuka commented as Katsuya's face was scrunched in confusion. Who's agent Bakura? Shouldn't that be agent Haku?  
  
Suddenly agent Haku shushed them rudely.   
  
It was so silent in the room that all they could hear were shoes clicking around on the cold floor of the hall. Everyone held their breaths when the sounds came closer and a bit louder. It seemed everyone was captivated in the suspense. The energy was hidden safely in their bodies and was ready to explode.   
  
The footsteps stopped and everyone tried not to make another sound.   
  
The siblings were joining the suspense even though they had no idea who this agent Bakura was.  
  
There came a knock and the door handle moved.   
  
They crossed their fingers, hoping that it may be agent Bakura.   
  
The door was opened slowly. "Good mor...,"   
  
"SURPRISE!!" The officers from station 6 shouted out.   
  
The poor officer gasped in fright and flung the door closed, right into agent Haku's face. Everyone gasped as agent Haku began to shake angrily. It seemed everyone could feel the heated anger radiating from agent Haku.   
  
Shizuka clung to her brother unconsciously. Why was the officer angry?   
  
The door was slowly opened again. Someone stuck his head into the room, nervously. Familiar long white hair framed a delicate cherub face. Katsuya frowned... and then blinked.   
  
The officer smiled apologetically and stepped into the officer. "Good morning" he bowed shyly and clasped his hands behind his back.   
  
Agent Haku growled and shoved the new officer out of his way.   
  
"I'm out of here!" He stormed off.  
  
"Officer Haku!" his colleagues gasped out.   
  
Katsuya blinked in confusion. "Uhm... what just happened?"   
  
The new officer turned to look at him. He looked a lot like agent Haku, Katsuya noted, although a bit more softer-looking than agent Haku. His wide brown eyes held his eyes in place.   
  
"You must be new here. I'm agent Bakura Ryou. Nice to meet you" He bowed politely.   
  
"Jounouchi Katsuya. Likewise" Katsuya responded automatically.  
  
"Happy birthday, Ryou-kun!" one of the officers ruffled agent Bakura's hair and passed him a present. A small beautifully wrapped up box.   
  
"That's agent Honda Hiroto. He's an okay guy" Katsuya whispered to his sister.   
  
"Thank you" agent Bakura nodded politely and shook the present just to hear if there was something inside. "What is it?" he asked curiously"   
  
agent Honda wagged his right index finger as a 'not telling' sign. "That's for me to know and for you to find out, Ryou-kun"   
  
"Happy birthday, Ryou-kun"   
  
Not long afterwards agent Bakura's desk was filled with presents. He laughed good-naturedly once in awhile when the others racked a joked.   
  
"Everyone seemed to be an okay someone" Shizuka murmured as she looked at the officers.   
  
"Wait till you meet agent Haku and kachou Crawford" Katsuya snorted lowly.  
  
Agent Bakura stopped laughing and everyone in the room ceased their laughter. "What's wrong?"  
  
Agent Bakura smiled gratefully at them. "Thank you. Thank you for all your presents. Thank you, everyone. Thank you"  
  
He then frowned in confusion. "H-how did you know when my birthday was? I-I didn't tell anyone..."   
  
Agent Yuuki cleared his throat and gave agent Bakura a hard look.   
  
"That's true. Agent Haku had told us about your birthday. He was the one behind this whole surprise party thing" Yami rolled his right wrist freely, indicating the decorated room.   
  
Agent Bakura's eyes went wide in disbelief and let out a strangled gasp.   
  
"Can you fill me in about this whole thing, agent Mutou?" Katsuya whispered curiously. He didn't know why he'd asked agent Mutou that, but something told him he might get some answers.   
  
"Sure, Jounouchi-san" agent Mutou smiled at both siblings.  
  
"Backura-san" agent Bakura whispered. It kind of felt weird to call his own family name even though he meant the other agent's first name. He ran out of the room, leaving everyone clueless behind.  
  
Yugi sighed and shook his head sadly. "Agent Bakura was partnered with agent Haku a few years ago. Though they didn't seem to be acting like partners or was it actually agent Haku who tried to drive agent Bakura away? No one had any idea why agent Haku was being mean and grudgy against agent Bakura..."   
  
Jounouchi nodded in understanding. Of course he wouldn't be surprised if agent Haku had a long shit list with everyone on it. Maybe even agent Mutou is on it.  
  
"I see... but I guess both of them weren't working as a team"  
  
Yugi smiled faintly and shook his head. "Surprisingly, they were a great duo. Their assignments were done quickly and flawlessly."  
  
Shizuka frowned in confusion and looked at her brother for some explanation. "Is that possible?"   
  
Jounouchi shrugged and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "So why did agent Haku want to drive agent Bakura away? Was he jealous of his looks or something?"   
  
Yugi chuckled lightly and shook his head. "I don't think that's a possible answer, Jounouchi-san. It must have something to do with agent Ishtar's replacement. Both agent Ishtar and agent Haku were like a golden team"  
  
"Now I'm confused" Jounouchi frowned, Shizuka frowned as well.  
  
"But they're not really that great compared to agent Yuuki's level. I know they say he's a justice cop. But in fact he'd already passed that level"  
  
"Weren't we supposed to know about the 'agent Bakura and agent Haku's issue'?" Shizuka pointed out thoughtfully.   
  
"I'm sorry. That's all I know regarding their past. Those two are quite secretive in their way of working together..." Yugi flushed in embarrassment. A hand was suddenly laid upon Yugi's shoulder. Yugi let out a yelp.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
8:10 AM  
  
Ryou pushed a door open. He was being careful not to 'scare' a certain angry silver-haired officer. Ryou snorted mentally at the misused word. Heh. If someone had surprised Bakura just by making a wrong sound, he might be six feet under the ground. But if someone did scare Bakura doing the same tactic, the world was definitely coming to an end.   
  
Agent Haku was standing on the roof of the 6th police station. He was staring down at the passing cars and gritted his teeth unconsciously. His shoulders were shaking with anger. His body was almost ready to explode with anger. Why was he mad? Why was he enraged? Was it because of Ryou?  
  
Ryou stepped closer tentatively and swallowed. "Agent Haku..." he croaked out softly. He held his breath when agent Haku froze. Bakura's eyes were wide in shock and anticipation.   
  
Seeing that agent Haku didn't make any attempts to turn around Ryou took a breath. He twitched his lips into an awkward smile and cleared his throat. "I... I want to thank you f-for the surprise party and... uhm... thank you" That came out weird, Ryou noted and sighed mentally. It was hard to tell agent Haku most stuff he'd wanted to share with his partner.  
  
Agent Haku said nothing and pinched his eyes close as he clenched his fists tightly.   
  
"H-how did you know about my birthday was today? I don't remember telling anyone..." He tried again.   
  
Suddenly a fist was connected to his face. He let out a gasp of shock and fell backwards on the floor. Agent Haku had punched him. Ryou rubbed the sour spot painfully and glanced at the other agent in confusion.  
  
Agent Haku was definitely still angry. Bakura was breathing heavily as he clenched his fist, which he'd used to hit Ryou, tightly. He was enraged; his heart was pounding faster in his chest, matching the heated look on his face. Ryou opened his mouth to say something, but was quickly cut off when Bakura spoke first.   
  
"Don't EVER try to take a bullet for me, YOU HEAR?!" Agent Haku hissed.  
  
"But-"   
  
"Don't EVER, EVER take a bullet for me, is that clear? Not now, not EVER!"   
  
"But-"  
  
"Shut up and answer me. Is that clear?!"  
  
"I-..."  
  
"Answer me, damn it!"  
  
Ryou sighed in defeat and closed his eyes. not wanting to look up at his partner. "Yes. I won't do it again... Besides, it's not that we're close" Ryou muttered the last phrase bitterly.   
  
There was a moment of silence as Ryou stared off in space, not noticing his partner looking down at him, shocked.  
  
"I'm good with computers. What do you expect?" Agent Haku suddenly spoke.   
  
Ryou jerked his head up and blinked in confusion. "Huh?"  
  
Agent Haku smirked suddenly and placed his hands on his hips. "That's my answer to your question"   
  
Agent Haku walked past the other officer. [2]  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
8:10 AM  
  
"Is it one of those stuff again?" Yugi asked as he looked at the envelope. Yami nodded and crossed his arms.   
  
"What's in it?" Katsuya prodded curiously, not understanding why both agents weren't happy with the envelope.  
  
"A message from the killer" Yugi whispered and ripped open the envelope.   
  
"Is that a joke?" Katsuya asked nervously, he was very aware how tight Shizuka was clutching his arm.  
  
"No" was the answer and Shizuka's nails dug into his flesh.   
  
"Onii-chan..."  
  
Yugi flipped open the small message.  
  
"Little one dear,   
  
when full moon is up  
  
violets are blue until it's clear  
  
So are you afraid to make it stop?  
  
The fate of those who knew no sorrow  
  
the path of those who are into tomorrow?" [3]  
  
"What does that mean?" Katsuya asked as he looked over Yugi's shoulder to read the message. He'd to grit his teeth just to bear his sister's nails. She'd dug her nails into his arm unconsciously.   
  
"It's some kind of a 'nonsense' riddle. In fact it's a well though out maze" Yami commented as he crossed his arms over his chest again and leaned against the desk.   
  
The other officers ignored the four. They were fussing over agent Bakura's birthday and wondering about agent Haku's true intentions of throwing a surprise party. "So what's with agent Haku?"  
  
The others just shrugged.   
  
Agent Ishtar, however, walked out of the room without telling anyone.  
  
"I've my eyes all around.  
  
I can see a lot of things and witness a lot of scenes.  
  
Although I'm hard to reach and yet make no sound  
  
here's my question: do you have any beans?  
  
All in all you cannot escape this game  
  
I've set  
  
try to find  
  
your partner in crime  
  
and follow the league to gain access to my name.  
  
I'll be waiting for my next victim to pet" [3] Yugi continued and looked up at agent Yuuki. Something must have come up. I mean, he doesn't just send two message one after the other"   
  
Yami nodded slowly.  
  
"What two messages? What are you guys talking about?" The suspense was gnawing on Katsuya's insides. He was curious. Were those news from the past few days or even weeks about the deaths of rookies from the police force?  
  
Yugi looked at agent Yuuki, pleading for something.   
  
Yami sighed and closed his eyes. "How sadistic this guy may seem I guess you've the right to know the whole truth"  
  
"So... is it because I'm just a rookie you all are pitying my fate?" Katsuya narrowed his eyes. Shziuka pulled on his sleeve, readying herself to pull an angry big bother from an unnecessary fight or something unexpected.   
  
"Maybe..." Yami responded and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.   
  
"From the recent murders we've encountered most of them were easy to find the killer's intentions like revenge, money problems and such. But now that our rookies are being threatened we're kept in the dark. None of the rookies have some kind of relation among them that can lead us to some sort of chained clues. Although I can gather from their recent statistics they all have something in common. They've reached the level of becoming full-time agents" Yami explained curtly.   
  
"Okay, so what's with the messages?" Katsuya pointed at the letter in Yugi's hands.  
  
"From what I can gather. He sends certain people these messages. They're all riddles. Surprisingly these messages are well thought out and we get a short amount of time to figure the whole thing out. The answers are either certain victims in certain places where they might be murdered" Yugi continued as he fumbled with another letter from his pockets.   
  
"But every time when we've figured out the message, we're too late. It's as if he's one step ahead of us, picking another victim" Yugi sighed sadly and passed the two letters to Jounouchi. "Now that we have two letters, the killer will give us a hard time to save two rookies"  
  
Katsuya glanced at the letter, which he hadn't read.  
  
"Tell me dear,   
  
if roses are red  
  
bathed in fear  
  
covered in sweat  
  
what's the only thing in mind  
  
that can make me this hard to find?" Katsuya murmured and gritted his teeth.   
  
"Ugh! It sounds disgusting!" he commented once he finished reading the letter.  
  
Yami smirked. "The message must have giving you the wrong intentions"   
  
Shizuka looked confused at both letters and tried to fit them together with places she could think of. "Why does the guy want to wipe off the police force?"  
  
Yami shrugged. "I've no idea,"  
  
"By the way... where's kachou Crawford?" Katsuya looked around the room. He remembered why his sister was with him and forgot his true intentions once he got shocked that morning.   
  
"A meeting maybe" Yugi said.   
  
Someone opened the door and a whole bush of flowers peaked into the room. "For whom are these flowers?"  
  
*.*.*.*.* End chapter 4*.*.*.*.*  
  
End notes:  
  
1: O.o; what are his eye colors again?  
  
2: ^_^ Okay, I've been planning on making a side-fic to this story. A fic where it's centered around this pairing. Don't worry, the other implied pairings will get their world too. I think I'm going to name the side-fic where this pairing is centered "Aventurien" :D.   
  
3: -_-;; Err... yeah... I know it sucked. I suck at those rhyme thingies. But eventually it's still a riddle to me, right? *stares at the riddle for a few times* @_@   
  
Ru-chan: It's still a bit slow though . So sorry for the inconvenience. Thank you for reviewing. ^_^  
  
Jou-pup: ^_^;; Aa... don't worry about it. I'm not really good at poetry. I don't know why I wanted to rhyme that riddle... it sounds a bit _out_. But I DID write a one-shot and had it sent to a friend just to help her out of her writer's block. She told me it's a poem _ Though I used metaphor instead of rhymes [I meant "Let rain wash over"]. You're kind of close to guessing... I just hope my reasons are good. Thank you for reviewing.  
  
Angel-Belle: Naw... I'm not sure ^_^ it's too easy to tell who's the bad guy so I'll just let some people wander around. Thank you for reviewing.  
  
Momma Cat: O.o So many requests... And you want a lemon? I'm not sure if I can write that one since I've already written chapter 11 so far with not a lot of Seto+Jou related stuff. But even if ttheir relationship somehow just clicked after chapter 11 I'm not sure if I can write a lemon. I've never written one before... only a lime one from a different section and never posted it _. I guess I'm kind of scared of writing a lemon since I usually skip lemon scenes while I read other fics. Anyways I'm glad you somehow like it even though the beginning is quite slow. Thank you for reviewing.   
  
~_~ I'm sorry I've to say this but this is sort of my last chance to respond to you reviewers. I don't have actual internet at home... so sorry ;_; if either one of you want a few responses from me. I know I love it whenever I read a fic, review it and then the author responds my review ^_^. It makes me feel noticed.  
  
Okay... I've noticed that this story is getting a bit longer than I'd anticipated. I mean I did start with this fic without having an actual idea where it might end. But then again I've noticed I've put a lot of suspense in the next few chapters (or so I think). The killer will remain anonymous for a long while... :-( so you guys can't kill him yet.   
  
And oh... I made Katsuya a bit overprotective over Shizuka when it came to love life... 9_9 I think that's a bit an overstatement since he doesn't really pay a lot of attention to Shizuka's admirers. Does that make him OOC?  
  
=^_^=cin 


	6. Chapter 5: Scattered petals

Title: Haima  
  
Author: Nekocin  
  
Email: Neko_cin_6@hotmail.com  
  
Genres: Various--- Action and Romance as main genres (I hope Romance wouldn't be so screwed up .).  
  
Type: AU   
  
Anime: Yu-gi-oh   
  
Warnings: Shounen-ai, Violence. Maybe some OOC. In this chapter OOC  
  
Pairings: Seto+Jou... in this chapter none  
  
Rated: PG-13  
  
Disclaimer: Anime in question doesn't belong to me. Never was. Never will.   
  
Author's notes:   
  
^_^;; We're still not there... so the killer remains anonymous for a long while. By the way I've really noticed my chapters are getting shorter and shorter by the next few new fics ideas 9_9. I wonder how come... anyways there's still no fluff in here ;_; Gomen.   
  
I've this new idea of writing direct Seto+Jou/Jou+Seto fluff instead of some long shot story where there only going to be slight fluff here and there _ So don't worry about me going so slow with relationship stories all the time.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter 5: Scattered petals  
  
8:25 AM  
  
"For whom are these flowers?" a voice boomed through the room. Everyone looked up at the new person.   
  
Yami straightened himself and walked towards the tall man.  
  
"Good morning, inspector Kaiba. If these are for agent Bakura, you can put them on his desk" Yami gestured to the desk with a pile of presents.   
  
The inspector arched an eyebrow, while glaring at Yami. "How can you be sure these are for agent Bakura?"  
  
"His birthday is today,"  
  
Everyone watched the two exchanging glances. It was like watching a movie without any sound effects.  
  
"I think the flowers aren't meant for agent Bakura" Shizuka whispered to her brother. He nodded slowly, frowning slightly. For whom were they then?  
  
The inspector glanced around the room and his eyes settled on him. "Jounouchi Katsuya," the inspector stated. Katsuya froze immediately and stared wide-eyed at the inspector. How did he know his name?  
  
The inspector walked towards Katsuya all the while keeping those penetrating blue eyes on him. He was definitely just as scary as the chief, Katsuya noted. Those blue eyes were giving him the creeps already even though he'd seen many scarier ones in his life.   
  
Then it suddenly triggered his mind when he felt his sister tugging on his sleeve. What if the sender was Shizuka's admirer? The inspector didn't seem like someone who sent flowers to anyone in particular. Besides, he'd also asked them for whom the flowers were for unless the sender wanted to be anonymous.   
  
The tall inspector stopped in front of him and flipped open a small tag for Katsuya to see.   
  
-To: Jounouchi K.- [1]  
  
He instantly noticed how relieved the rookie looked.   
  
"Good. So it's not from Shizuka's admirer" Katsuya chuckled under his breath, not noticing how confused everyone was staring at him.   
  
"We need to talk" Inspector Kaiba said and shoved the flowers into the rookie's chest.   
  
"Hai. Hai. Hai. Let's just get to work" Katsuya laughed good-naturedly and unconsciously hugged the flowers.   
  
"Since kachou is not around, I guess we can take the car"   
  
Before the inspector could say anything, Katsuya was already out of the room with Shizuka following him.   
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
9:00 AM  
  
Katsuya was behind the wheel, grinning happily about having Shizuka around. She was sitting next to him while a smirking Yami and a glaring inspector were sitting behind him.   
  
"You've an area already?" Shizuka asked incredulously. She sounded impressed.  
  
"Yep" He smirked at her.   
  
"That's great!" she exclaimed.  
  
"So tell me why agent Yuuki must come along too," the inspector growled.   
  
"I'm his temporary partner and practical teacher for a few months," Yami answered, cutting Katsuya off before the rookie could say anything.   
  
"What he says," Katsuya answered and made a right turn.  
  
"... and why is she here?" the inspector frowned. He'd never noticed some rookies needed two partners. It sounded as if the rookie was a bit like an air-head. It didn't sound right. Impossible.  
  
"That's simple. She's my sister. Being alone in my apartment is too dangerous for her" Katsuya brightened when he mentioned about Shizuka and stopped the car to motion some people to pass.  
  
"Isn't it also dangerous to have her around?" the inspector arched an annoying eyebrow. He was annoyed already. Must be the reason that Yami had to come along.   
  
"It's okay. Really. I can take care of myself. But onii-chan can protect me anyways" Shizuka answered and both siblings chuckled. They were sharing an inside joke already?  
  
"So... inspector, what is it you wanted to talk about?"   
  
Inspector Kaiba frowned at the playful tone in the rookie's voice [2]. Wasn't the rookie sort of afraid of him back at the station? Where were the rookie's manners? Maybe it had something to do with his sister boosting his ego...   
  
"Well, you must have heard about the killings of rookies, have you not?"  
  
The car tires suddenly screeched to the sides, letting everyone lose their composure.   
  
"THAT JERK! CAN'T THESE PEOPLE FOLLOW THE TRAFFIC RULES?!" Katsuya cursed as he shook an angry fist in the air.   
  
"Look who's talking" the inspector muttered under his breath [3].  
  
A black car had zoomed past them without even honking to move aside. The 2nd wrong point about the black car was that it was driving the opposite direction of the street. And since the road, which Katsuya was taking, was a one-way street, the driver of the black car needed a ticket or someone needed to press charges.  
  
"Is everyone okay?" Katsuya checked his passengers and sighed in relief.   
  
"Uh-huh, I've heard about the deaths of the rookies," He resumed his driving and nodded absently.   
  
"I think it's safer for the rookies to be watched over by the older officers," the inspector continued and looked at Yami, who just shrugged. Didn't the car distract the rookie a minute ago?   
  
"Why are you people acting as if I'm the next victim? Didn't all those rookies reach the full-time agent rank... OH MY GOD!" Katsuya's eyes widened while the others just exchanged confusing glances. What's with the rookie?  
  
Katsuya swerved the wheel and swung the car into a different street. The car tires screeched as he entered a different street.   
  
The small car sped forward.  
  
"What are you doing, Jounouchi-san?" Yami asked as he clung on to the front seat.   
  
"The guy needs a ticket, sir" Katsuya jerked his right hand out of the window. The same black car was still riding the opposite direction of the street, which Katsuya had just left.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
9:25 AM  
  
The occupants of the black car had just robbed a bank. That solidified them to be captured by the police. Agent Kujaku had taken the occupants of the black car into her custody. After chasing the black car and capturing the occupants, Katsuya resumed their drive through his area.  
  
Both agent Yuuki and inspector Kaiba wore serious looks while Shizuka looked impressed because of her brother's chasing skills.   
  
"Okay, I get the part about rookies being watched by the older officers. So does that mean I'm the only rookie here that has a temporary older partner as a teacher and a babysitter?" Katsuya asked thoughtfully as his eyes darted around the sidewalks.  
  
"I'm afraid so, Jounouchi-san. Kachou PJ [4] wants his officers to be efficient in all sorts of police work. Rookies need someone to look after them and point out their mistakes... uh, Jounouchi-san, please keep your eyes on the road. You're driving into the wrong sides of the street" Yami explained and looked out of the window.  
  
"Sorry...," Katsuya sniggered at the nickname for kachou. He glanced at his sister from the corners of his eyes.  
  
"Tell me dear,  
  
if roses are red  
  
bathed in fear  
  
and covered in sweat...," Shizuka murmured and looked at her brother for awhile. She'd tried to figure out the spooky first verse after watching her brother skillfully swerved the wheel around. Shizuka's brows furrowed.  
  
"As I was saying, you need supervision from either one of your older officers_," the inspector continued, but was quickly cut off when Shizuka gasped out.  
  
"That's it! If I'm right, the first sentence of the first verse is referred to either one of the men. That's the easiest one. The second sentence is about the victim. Roses that are red have different meanings. But I think in this case it has something to do with...," Shizuka beamed.   
  
"A Japanese rose? That means 'death, right [5]? The third and fourth sentence sounded like how he might kill his victim. And ewww... I don't wan to explain how," Katsuya explained absentmindedly and made a turn to the left.   
  
Shizuka chuckled. "How do you know the meaning of the Japanese rose, onii-chan?"   
  
"Watched yakuza movies" [6]  
  
"That sounds logical," Yami nodded and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "And a bit easier than I thought. What do you think of the sixth and the seventh sentences of the first letter?"   
  
"He meant the riddles," inspector Kaiba responded and crossed his arms over his chest. "The previous riddles had taken us a few days to figure his scheme out"   
  
"So I see it does make sense. What about the rest of the message? I quote: 'as for the rest of the sweet phrase'... the question is what phrase? The previous phrase? The phrase that fits in there? The phrase of some message he'd sent before?" Katsuya continued and parked his car near a CD store. "Okay, everyone. Out,"   
  
"Do you have any idea what you're going to do?" Yami asked out loud as he stepped out of the car. He'd not taught the rookie about checking the area on foot yet.   
  
"No idea. Let's just take a walk and let inspiration strike, shall we?" was the rookie's answer and he locked he door. The inspector and the agent gave each other some funny looks.   
  
"Aa... does that also mean you volunteered to look after me too?," Katsuya rubbed his temples tiredly, wondering why he was changing the topic. He didn't do it on purpose, right?  
  
Inspector Kaiba glared at the rookie. The rookie was up to something.   
  
Katsuya's troubled look took over as he ran his fingers through his hair, nervously.   
  
"What's wrong, onii-chan?"   
  
"You're late!" a nearby girl growled as she pointed at her watch. She'd puffed her face angrily and looked down on the unfortunate boy. "How dare you to show your face when you're late!"   
  
The boy wore a pleading look and began to beg in front of her feat. "I'm sorry, Rika-chan. It wasn't my fault. The traffic was jammed and I'd to run all the way here. Please forgive me. Here are some flowers I've bought on my way," [7]  
  
"Pathetic," inspector Kaiba muttered and noticed they'd been watching someone without a reason. He straightened himself and turned to look at the rookie. However Katsuya was watching the two unknown people with a troubled look. The rookie frowned as he watched some petals come loose from the bush of flowers.  
  
"If they were roses, the guy must be someone who favored his partner above everything...," Katsuya muttered and turned his gaze away from the couple.   
  
"You know something, don't you, Jounouchi-san?" Yami asked as Shizuka tugged onto on to her brother's sleeve.   
  
Katsuya sighed and took out the two letters from his pocket.   
  
"Roses are red. Violets are blue. My dear darling, I love you [8]. It makes sense all the sudden, ne?" He said weakly and smiled. "I think he meant the victim had somehow been 'captured'. Or in this case his victim was slowly getting into his trap. The rest just follow. The kiss part sounds a bit hard to figure out. Maybe they'd shared some kind of relationship?"   
  
"Now that onii-chan mentioned the flowers. Who had sent those flowers to you?" Shizuka pointed out. Three pairs of eyes looked at the inspector.   
  
"I've found the flowers in my mailbox this morning," he stated uninterestingly. "Besides... it could've been a mistake to sent them to my house,"   
  
"Or it was on purpose?" Yami suggested.   
  
"I think we should walk now. People here are giving me weird looks," the rookie glanced at the passing pedestrians.  
  
"For your second day of work at station 6, I'm impressed, Jounouchi-san" Yami commented and gave the inspector another look.   
  
"Is it possible the killer is taking advantage at a certain time just to boost all the rookies to the agent level?" He whispered.   
  
The inspector nodded slowly as they followed the rookie and his sister. "You can never tell what his mind is planning on doing next"  
  
Yami shook his head disapprovingly and sighed.   
  
"This killer is unpredictable sometimes. If that's what he's trying to do, Jounouchi-san will become an agent in just a short amount of time. That's bad. I take it that's why you're here, right Seto?" Yami glanced at the taller inspector. Using the inspector's first name made their conversation more personal than it should've been.  
  
"This rookie has potential," the inspector shrugged.   
  
"There are so few things that can interest you, Seto. The CEO job must be very stressing," Yami jammed his hands in his pockets with a smirk. The inspector didn't answer him and choose to ignore agent Yuuki's comment.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
10:10 AM  
  
A man walked past the four. He paid no attention to his surroundings. His thoughts were troubled.   
  
That morning he'd found a whole a bunch of roses on his front door. They were all from someone anonymous. It was like having a secret admirer around.   
  
He wondered if he should track down this mystery person just to make those roses stop 'flooding' his room. He felt both troubled and excited. It was sort of heart-warming to have a secret admirer; having someone to love you from afar and all. But it felt disturbing.   
  
Something at the back of his mind told him that the roses felt wrong. The whole thing felt wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. All wrong.  
  
That's why he was taking a walk down the streets just to clear his mind. It was a good thing he chief had given him a day off.   
  
His green eyes looked up at the small police car near the sidewalk and frowned slightly. This area hadn't had agents to look after in a long while. He sure wanted to meet this particular agent. It seemed great to have brave ones around because this area was filled with a lot of criminals. He memorized the nameplate and with a confident smirk he went off to check on police records of certain agents who take over the wheels.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
12:00 PM [9]  
  
Jounouchi drove them back to the station. He got stuck with the pile of paperwork under the evil scrutinizing eyes of agent Haku.   
  
For some reasons unknown the chief hadn't even said anything to his officers where he could be found. He just took off all the sudden.  
  
Yami was behind his desk again and like Katsuya, he had to finish his paper work. Shizuka gladly offered to bring them all something to drink but for the most part stayed close to look over her brother's shoulder.   
  
As for the inspector, everyone thought he was going to leave. He, however, watched them from a corner. They'd no idea why he was staying with them for the day.   
  
Luckily, he'd brought his laptop along when he drove to station 6 that morning. He continued working on his projects.  
  
The surprise party for agent Bakura had ended with piles and piles of paper work. Katsuya noticed how funny agent Bakura looked. He wondered what happened to the agent's beautiful complexion. Somewhere on the agent's face was turning black-blue all the sudden. Maybe green too.   
  
"What an unhappy birthday" Katsuya had commented sadly to agent Bakura, who sat next to him. Ryou, however, just laughed at the statement and waved the worried looks away.   
  
During lunch agent Kujaku had managed to pry Shizuka away from the rookie for awhile. She'd just wanted to talk to Shizuka about 'women stuff', she'd told Katsuya. Katsuya had flushed and walked past the confused agents from station 6.  
  
All in all, the inspector had gathered a lot of strange info on 'your every day station 6'. He'd sat back and observed every officer from afar.   
  
Agent Haku and agent Yuuki have some sort of similar problems. Although agent Yuuki was much more graceful about the subject regarding their certain look-a-likes.   
  
Agent Honda and agent Masaki were easy to read. Both shared the same open personality.   
  
Agent Bakura was shy, the inspector could tell. Whenever agent Haku was near, agent Bakura got the frightened look on his face.   
  
Agent Mutou was just as open as agent Masaki and agent Honda. Maybe a bit too naive to even notice some adoring looks from his previous partner.   
  
The inspector suspected that agent Kujaku somehow was interested into prying out all sorts of info about the rookie's personal live from the rookie's sister. The agent was somehow starting to like the 'cute' rookie, or so she'd said.   
  
And where's agent Ishtar? Probably checking on his sister.  
  
As for the rookie… He'd surprisingly a lot of sides. He must have mood swings or something, the inspector noted. One time he's one annoying jerk, another time he's a lovable rookie, then a genius, then a dumb moron etcetera. The inspector sighed and closed his tired eyes. He'd caught himself studying the rookie after all.  
  
Later that night he followed the siblings back to their apartment.   
  
Katsuya was too tired to tell the inspector to go home or something. He'd to rewrite most reposts he'd finished before the first lunch. Agent Haku was a bit harsher this time. He wondered what's wrong with the agent.  
  
As they neared the apartment, there was someone leaning against the wall next to Katsuya's apartment, waiting. Both the inspector and the rookie found this suspicious as they walked cautiously to Jounouchi's apartment.   
  
The guy opened his eyes and blazing green eyes met them instantly.  
  
*.*.*.*.* End chapter 5*.*.*.*.*  
  
End notes:  
  
1: @_@ Let's just say Kaiba was trying to get to the point for whom the flowers were. Even though he'd asked them the question.   
  
2: Just say Jounouchi is in a good mood when Shizuka had mentioned him ^-^. Sibling love, ne? So it has nothing to do with Jounouchi-san liking the inspector. *ducks for cover*  
  
3: He was referring to the incident of the previous day, which stated in chapter 2.  
  
4: ^o^ Lol. Did you guys get it? *silence* -_-;; Fine. I'm trying to make it a bit entertaining.  
  
5: Uhm... yeah, sort of. I picked that meaning out from "Weiss Kreuz"   
  
6: I have no idea if the movies show signs of Japanese roses and such. But let's just keep it like that. I'm not really sure if I should put that there even _ *puts on sunglasses and mustache* You don't know me O-O.   
  
7: Don't worry. They're no one in particular in this fic. Just some fillers.  
  
8: @_@ Okay... I may not really know the real poem thing there. I altered it as bit _  
  
9: The rest of the end scene is like reading a movie without any dialogues.  
  
_ I did it again. The long notes!!! ;_; Gomen for the inconvenience. You all might have noticed I'm rushing a bit here and there _ Sorry for that too... ugh and description is not my best shot.  
  
Thank you everyone who'd reviewed the last chapters ^_____^.   
  
=^_^=cin 


	7. Chapter 6: Fate in hands

Title: Haima  
  
Author: Nekocin  
  
Email: Neko_cin_6@hotmail.com  
  
Genres: Various--- Action and Romance as main genres (I hope Romance wouldn't be so screwed up .).  
  
Type: AU   
  
Anime: Yu-gi-oh   
  
Warnings: Shounen-ai, Violence. Maybe some OOC. In this chapter OOC and slight bad description.  
  
Pairings: Seto+Jou... Sorry no fluff between those two. Here, implied Yami Bakura+Malik (one-sided ;_;)  
  
Rated: PG-13  
  
Disclaimer: Anime in question doesn't belong to me. Never was. Never will.   
  
Author's notes:   
  
;_; I'm sorry... still no fluff. I'm still planning on a direct Seto+Jou/Jou+Seto fluff somewhere in my notebooks but seeing as I've my hands full with new updates, side-fics, new HETero fic and an unfinished GW doujinshi I've to weave my way into a schedule along with school.   
  
But anyways I'm glad you have all reached chapter 6 ^_^.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter 6: Fate in hands  
  
23:05 PM  
  
"Who are you?" Katsuya demanded and pushed Shizuka behind his back.   
  
"I take it you're Jounouchi Katsuya" the stranger smiled. "You're the 'officer' for area F, right?"  
  
"What are you getting at?" Katsuya narrowed his eyes. If this guy was one of those people who wanted to stalk his sister, he would make HIS life harder than it should be.   
  
"Nice to meet you, I'm agent Ryuuji Otogi from station 3" the guy smirked [1].   
  
He was definitely tall when he straightened himself. His long black hair was pulled back in a high ponytail.  
  
"Station 3? What are you doing here?" Katsuya asked incredulously. Why was an officer from station 3 waiting at his front door?   
  
"Since I got to know someone is patrolling area F I just wanted to meet this brave person face to face. Area F is one of those areas full of criminals" Ryuuji said.   
  
"I see...," Jounouchi murmured, being unsure what to say. He felt a bit dazed because of the hard work at the station.  
  
"Who might your companions be?" agent Ryuuji asked and regarded the other two.  
  
"She's my younger sister, Shizuka and he's inspector Kaiba" Jounouchi introduced and fished out his keys.   
  
"Aa... nice to meet you, young lady" Ryuuji smiled at Shizuka and bowed. Shizuka returned the bow.  
  
"Inspector Kaiba, eh? You look familiar... but why are you here?" Ryuuji regarded the taller man with interest. It was totally uncalled for to have an inspector around a rookie like Jounouchi.   
  
"He's just checking me out" Katsuya responded sleepily and opened the front door. the other three blinked when Katsuya had answered the question.   
  
That somehow sounded wrong, Ryuuji noted and looked up at the inspector, who glared at the oblivious rookie.  
  
"Please come in. Onii-chan must be a bit too sleepy to answer properly" Shizuka smiled apologetically and opened the door a bit wider for their guests to come in. the apartment was neat in Ryuuji's opinion and small in the inspector's opinion.  
  
Suddenly Katsuya let out a shriek.   
  
"Onii-chan!? What's wrong?"   
  
The other three went into the bedroom where Katsuya was staring wide-eyed at the scene in front of him.   
  
Half his room was covered with flowers. Flowers that looked suspiciously like the ones he'd gotten that morning.  
  
"I don't remember asking for flowers" Katsuya panicked and quickly closed the bedroom window. "I haven't left any windows open after I left for work"  
  
Ryuuji smirked and crossed his arms. "Seems you've some big secret admirer"   
  
Katsuya's face paled and ran out of his bedroom.  
  
"Onii-chan?! Where are you going? " Shizuka asked worriedly and followed her brother into the guestroom where she was staying. Ryuuji and the inspector followed them wordlessly.  
  
Katsuya stared and stared at the white walls in his sister's bedroom.   
  
"Onii-chan, why are you checking my bedroom?" Shizuka asked curiously, her eyes wide in confusion.   
  
Katsuya breathed out in relief and closed the door of Shizuka's bedroom. He smiled weakly at her and laid a hand on her shoulder.   
  
"For the moment there I thought you were being stalked,"  
  
"How can that be possible? I know no one particular around here. It's you who's being stalked" Shizuka's eyes were still wide in confusion as she looked at her brother.   
  
"She could've just left them on your door step" Ryuuji said thoughtfully.   
  
The inspector came back with another tag.  
  
-To: Jounouchi K.-  
  
"They're all for you" the inspector stated and the rookie's face looked troubled again.   
  
"But she or he did not leave them on my door step... so what are you implying? This crazy stalker broke into my apartment just to shower his or her affections one me? Just like that?" Katsuya narrowed his eyes at Ryuuji and clenched his fists [2].  
  
"Her or his?" the inspector wondered out loud.   
  
"How can we be sure this _secret admirer_ is female or male? [3]" Katsuya explained and headed for the living-room. The halls to the bedrooms were too small to fit everyone in.   
  
"So you don't mind if those flowers are from a male?" Ryuuji asked incredulously. "Haven't you noticed there's no limit when it comes to love?" Katsuya shot back [3].   
  
"I take it that yours is much politer to leave them on your door step" Katsuya said sarcastically as Shizuka quickly went into the kitchen to prepare dinner.  
  
Ryuuji gasped good-naturedly and smirked. "How did you know?"  
  
"I don't know. You just strike me as someone who just knows" Katsuya shrugged and dropped own on the sofa.   
  
"You're right. Mine's a bit politer and romantic" Ryuuji took hold on one of the available chairs.   
  
"Roses are romantic" Katsuya murmured absentmindedly and leaned lazily on the sofa. The inspector walked over his feet and sat on the opposite side of Ryuuji's chair.  
  
"Red roses are romantic. Heck1 I don't know why most people have this fetish for red roses. My room is almost full of red roses" Ryuuji chuckled heartily and noticed the inspector staring at him.   
  
"What?"  
  
The inspector growled something under his breath and wondered why the rookie was talking casually with this stranger.  
  
Ryuuji just shrugged.  
  
"You do know what kind of flowers those are, right?" Katsuya asked sleepily and pointed at his bedroom.   
  
"Violets of course" Ryuuji beamed. Katsuya's eyelids dropped down slowly as he shrugged absentmindedly. "Like they say... roses ARE red... and violets ARE blue... My darling dear... I love..." Katsuya murmured sleepily.  
  
The inspector froze when he caught a few incoherent phrases. It triggered his mind that the flowers were the clues. How easy! Maybe too easy. What's the killer up to?   
  
Ryuuji watched Katsuya fall asleep. "He should have manners. How can he fall asleep while he must entertain his guests?" Ryuuji huffed and poked playfully at Katsuya's cheek with a grin.   
  
"Stop poking!" the inspector warned and shot the other officer a hard glare.   
  
Ryuuji held both his hands up in defeat. "Cool it. Cool it. Okay, I've stopped. You're acting as if you're his mother"   
  
The inspector narrowed his eyes at the comment and crossed his arms over his chest. It was a waste of energy and time to talk to that stranger. Now that he sort of knew who the victims MIGHT be, he must solve the rest of the riddles.   
  
For the moment there he blinked and then looked at the rookie. He could recall having seen the two letters with the rookie.  
  
The inspector sighed all the while being the object of Ryuuji's attention. He stood up and went outside on the balcony. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed his home number. The inspector hoped Mokuba was at home.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
23:40 PM  
  
A figure was putting away his telescope and leaned over the balcony's cold railing. He'd been watching them get into the apartment for a while. He chuckled to himself when he saw the kid's disturbed face. Had he been up close he might have thought the rookie was cute [4].   
  
Pity, his smile faltered, the fun in this game was not getting any progress. There was no spark there when his victims die in his hands. Where was the fun?  
  
And aa... the inspector was present too. What's he doing there?   
  
He narrowed his eyes. The inspector was getting closer and closer to the truth. The inspector was much quicker in mind that he'd thought.   
  
He wanted to finish the job immediately.   
  
Oh... what's this? HE's there too? Since when did the kid and HE get acquainted?  
  
He laughed dryly. It made things much easier.   
  
He could just take them both down once they were alone. That meant he'd to wait till the kid was a perfect target. But even now he felt tempted to do it immediately. The kid was still a rookie. a green one. Oblivious about most of the dangers and inexperienced compared to the inspector and the agent with the ponytail. A vulnerable prey.   
  
He could just feel the pride flushing out of his skin. His fingers tingled from the anticipation. The power to control someone's death was definitely worth his heart. Power was everything. The world should bow down before him, because he felt the power seeping into his body like sponge absorbing the water.   
  
He chuckled dryly and shook his head. How ironic to have a mental talk at this kind of time. He hardened his face and took one last look at his victims.  
  
Aa... the inspector could be a good target too, he marveled silently when he watched the inspector head towards the balcony. But no, the easy ones should go first and then the difficult ones would be later.   
  
He felt like taking a test. A test he swore not to fail. But what were his first intentions? What brought him out like this? What were the reasons that he'd become so cold?   
  
He slipped out of his apartment. Once his victim number one went back to his own apartment he would strike. He wanted the dark and yet exciting feeling. Maybe he shouldn't wait for the kid to get a bit red so that he could take him down too.   
  
But, he struggled mentally, he couldn't. He wouldn't. Too easy was too boring, but yet still tempting.  
  
ARGH! He should be concentrating on his new 'object'. The anonymous man blended into the shadows that engulfed him almost welcoming.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
00:00  
  
Agent Ishtar was doing his nightshift. He yawned cautiously as he stepped away from the brand-new police motorcycle. Okay, maybe not brand-new, but still it gleamed perfectly under the lanterns and the moonlight.   
  
He'd spent his whole morning trying to fix the old junk and then paint it. The others didn't question where he went. They all though he went to see his sister, Ishizu, who had a car accident a few weeks ago.  
  
His partner wasn't with him. He snorted.   
  
Agent Yuuki had bribed HIS partner to give that night's shift to him because most of his shifts were under agent Mutou's care.  
  
He didn't protest against agent Yuuki's order. It was only fair to him and agent Mutou to split their schedule. It was mutual to accept equality with someone like agent Mutou.   
  
Agent Ishtar was worried that his partner was overworking himself. Because of agent Mutou's naivety Yugi got most of the works in hands out from the two. Besides he wanted to ride this baby right then. He wanted to test the engines and feel the engines speed up whenever he added gas.  
  
He grinned proudly at his work and looked around the area he was patrolling. The streets were empty. The sidewalks were empty. Most business buildings had already been closed. Some clubs and restaurants were still open at that time. All was silent...  
  
"The only one missing in this picture is Bakura" he murmured sadly. He looked up at the dark sky and climbed back on his motorcycle. The engines lulled him into a deep thinking.   
  
What if he wasn't meant to be partnered with Bakura? What if he was never meant to be close to someone? Of course he and agent Mutou were close. But it was not really close enough to lose another partner because of his 'curse'.   
  
His vision blurred a bit. Agent Ishtar could hardly see the road he was taking. His eyes were filled and his chest was aching. He felt alone...  
  
Bright car lights blinded through his blurred vision. He snapped out of his self-pity and quickly made a quick turn to his left. He paused.   
  
Car tires screeched loudly, switching him into the police mode. He wiped away the tears with his right sleeve and looked at the retreating car. His light indigo eyes narrowed and he smirked.   
  
"About time" he muttered and added more gas to hear the engines roar. The car that had awakened him from his thoughts was moving recklessly around the street. It swerved one-way and then to the other. As if the car was drunk.  
  
Agent Ishtar took off after the car, being careful not to get too close or the car would smash him off the street. He switched on the brighter lights, hoping to catch the driver's attention and speeded up.   
  
"Pull over! Pull the car over!!" He yelled and took the risk to ride side-by-side with the car.   
  
He cursed silently because of his misfortune. The driver was definitely drunk. He wasn't even driving with his eyes open. The frigging driver was sleeping while driving!!!   
  
The officer panicked and darted his eyes around, searching for an option to stop the car. He could actually sneak in and stop the car from moving. He marveled at the idea of leaving the motorcycle somewhere and run after the other vehicle. Heh. That's a laugh.  
  
He could use the motorcycle as something like a wall and let the car run him over. Too bad it's too risky. The officer racked his brains and gave up. He hesitated on going to the other side of the car.   
  
The vehicle suddenly made a dangerous swing, the agent gasped and tied to reduce his speed.  
  
Not long afterwards he made his way to the other side of the car and carefully headed through the window. Agent Ishtar squeezed his way into the car and desperately stepped on the brakes.  
  
He let out a sigh of relief when the car came to a full stop and checked on the dozing driver.   
  
"How many have you drunk?" agent Ishtar muttered to himself and looked sadly at the driver. "Drinking isn't a way to solve your problems"  
  
He knew the driver wouldn't hear a word he'd said. Part of his brains was delving into unconsciousness thanks to the alcohol.   
  
The agent ransacked the driver's pockets, searching for some identification or a driving licence.   
  
The anonymous stranger stirred while the officer checked his ID. Before the officer could read the information on the ID he felt being pinned against the door. [5]  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
00:50 AM  
  
Big blue eyes flew open and the patient gasped out loud. She panicked instantly when she couldn't' see her surroundings.   
  
The patient quickly sat up, breathing heavily as her heart pounded rapidly. Where was she?  
  
"Malik?" she croaked out breathlessly. Her voice sounded like a ghostly breath. But the tunes weren't there.   
  
"Malik?" she tried again and swallowed. She noticed the wires attached to her arms.   
  
A hospital. Why was she there?  
  
Fear crept into her body and she began to shake. Was this a bad omen? She'd been awaken and called out to her brother. He must be the reason she had awakened.   
  
"Malik!!" She cried out. A report card had fallen off the table when she tried to reach for the light on the night table.  
  
'Patient: Ishtar Ishizu" [5]  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
2:00 AM  
  
Agent Ishtar's eyes were wide. The driver was gripping his throat, cutting his oxygen supplies. His lips were parted, trying to breath through his mouth. His world whirled round. He felt confused and lost.   
  
He grabbed hold of the driver's wrist tried to pull his hand away.   
  
The driver was definitely nuts, he cursed mentally for his misfortune.  
  
"I hate people with uniforms" he heard the driver hiss out and tried to swallow. He couldn't see the driver's face. The shadows were covering his face. It was hard to know if his true intentions might be written in his eyes in the darkness.   
  
It was painful. The ache in his lungs was painful. Agent Ishtar felt his face swelling as he tried desperately to pull the hand away.   
  
The hand tightened.   
  
The agent gasped helplessly and balled his fists. With his last strength he flung his fist violently into the driver's stomach. A few punched should do the trick.   
  
Immediately the driver let go as he grunted in pain.   
  
"FRIGGING BASTARD!!" the agent cursed and gasped for breath while his hands automatically touched his soar throat. He felt relief washing over him once the ache in his lungs had been eased.   
  
"You're coming with me, buddy!" the officer glared and pulled the driver out of the car, forcefully.   
  
The driver struggled to get out while holding his painful stomach. The stupid officer was violent even in his last strength.   
  
Agent Ishtar hauled the driver on his feet and took out the handcuffs. The driver looked directly at him.   
  
Light indigo. Both pairs of eyes flashed in surprise and confusion. They looked familiar...  
  
The driver was quick to recover and jabbed the agent in his ribs. He smirked proudly when the officer doubled over and ran. Agent Ishtar stared at the retreating figure as he held his sides.   
  
"W-wait..." he called out weakly [5].  
  
*.*.*.*.* End chapter 6*.*.*.*.*  
  
Endnotes:  
  
1: *cough* *cough* Here's Otogi... *cough* does he make a good targeted character? *cough* Sorry ^_^ I can't seem to think he could make a decent officer. *cough* *hides from Otogi fans* x_x I've said nothing.  
  
2: Let's just say those two aren't in best terms. They've just met _ don't you guys get a bit suspicious? It's like whenever parents always say, "Don't talk to strangers" _  
  
3: Okay... here's the thing that Katsuya doesn't really mind same sex relationships. Otherwise he would have said "she" or "her".  
  
4: Yep :) Of course I think Katsuya is cute minus those scary brown eyes when he was possessed *shudders* I love his normal ones better.  
  
5: :D Muhahahahaha... since I'm planning on a side-fic to the Yami Bakura+Ryou/Ryou+Yami Bakura pairing I thought about making another side-fic with Malik and the big guy :D I think I will call that side-fic "Turamali". I think that's where the rest of that stuff will go *smirks*  
  
;_; That was the best I can do with Malik and Yami Marik in the picture *smirks*. Anyways the story is still getting a bit too slow. But don't worry :) I won't keep writing about the every day stuff. Thank you to those who'd reviewed the previous chapter.  
  
=^_^=cin 


	8. Chapter 7: Cards of Destiny

Title: Haima  
  
Author: Nekocin  
  
Email: Neko_cin_6@hotmail.com  
  
Genres: Various--- Action and Romance as main genres (I hope Romance wouldn't be so screwed up .).  
  
Type: AU   
  
Anime: Yu-gi-oh   
  
Warnings: Shounen-ai, Violence. Maybe some OOC. In this chapter OOC and bad description ^^;;.  
  
Pairings: Seto+Jou... here none  
  
Rated: PG-13  
  
Disclaimer: Anime in question doesn't belong to me. Never was. Never will.   
  
Author's notes:   
  
~_~ Still no sign of those two _ *points at Seto and Katsuya* Sorry. But still it's a police fic, right? This story had to have some police action, right? Anyways I'm not quite happy with the results of this chapter _ and sorry no Seto+Jou fluff. And uh... Otogi fans please skip this chapter or just don't read this one at all *laughs nervously* ^-^;; I swear the guy is way OOC.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter 7: Cards of destiny  
  
8:50 AM ~ one week later ~  
  
"GET BACK TO WORK!!" agent Haku shouted impatiently when he caught his fellow-officers sitting lazily on their desks, talking about the latest news of the upcoming festival.  
  
  
  
"If agent Haku is still scolding us about getting back to work, his hair will some day turn white before he reach age thirty [1]" Katsuya muttered under his breath as he sat on his chair.   
  
"Onii-chan!" Shizuka scolded with a shaky smile. Agent Bakura sniggered with a hand over his mouth.   
  
"What? It's the truth!" Katsuya said innocently with his widened eyes as he grabbed for his pen.   
  
Agent Haku shot him a vicious glare from across his desk opposite of agent Bakura, making Katsuya freeze in place.   
  
"Shut up and get back to work, rookie!" agent Haku hissed and shot another glare into agent Bakura's direction. Ryou swallowed and dropped his eyes.  
  
Katsuya began writing his report as he marveled around about his days with station 6. According to his temporary partner Yami, Katsuya was doing great in the practical world.   
  
He snorted mentally. He must be better doing practical police work than theoretical police work.   
  
There were no more signs of rookies being killed unless one counted the messages along. Everything was sort of 'normal'. The only abnormalities, he'd noticed along with agent Honda, agent Masaki and agent Kujaku, were the behaviours of the three top agents from agent 6.   
  
The three top agents as in the elder ones in their group: agent Haku, agent Yuuki and agent Ishtar [2].  
  
But everyone just shrugged it away all the while thinking that maybe they were getting too old for the police job. Besides those three were of higher level, maybe the stress...  
  
The chief glanced up from his newspaper occasionally and smirked. Sometimes his officers were still too clueless to even acknowledge his presence in the room. They got used to his usual absence since agent Haku and agent Yuuki were the only ones ordering them to work.   
  
Speaking of agent Yuuki. Where is that agent?  
  
He sighed unconsciously and glanced at the rookie of his station. He marveled at the idea how brash the rookie was in the practical world. Maybe he was too familiar with the crimes in his area. And yet the rookie was still green...   
  
His gaze fell on Shizuka, the rookie's sister. She must be some wonderful person that made the rookie so protective of her.  
  
A secretive smirk grazed his lips and he rubbed his chin absentmindedly. He felt today was going to be a wonderful day. The warm feeling oozed out of his heart, spreading over his chest. Tonight, something great was going to happen. The chief closed his newspaper and entwined his fingers together.  
  
He cleared his throat and announced, "Everyone, may I please have your undivided attention?"   
  
Everyone in the room looked surprised and confused at him.  
  
"Good" he smiled and looked serious. "It's been about a week since you've been working on your reports during my absence. Am I right?"   
  
a few affirmative nods came, afterwards.   
  
The chief smiled and stood up. "Why don't you all check out the streets and stretch those limbs" [3]  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
9:01 AM  
  
"I wonder if there's a purpose behind kachou's announcement" agent Mutou wondered out loud as Katsuya and Shizuka followed him down the stairs.   
  
"Maybe he pities our fingers?" Katsuya suggested and looked sourly at his fingers.   
  
From behind the corners, the chief was leaning casually against the walls and smirked.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
9:10 AM  
  
The trio neared the vehicles of station 6. Katsuya spotted someone leaning against his temporary car and growled, "What are you doing here, Otogi?"   
  
The agent opened his eyes and smiled brightly at the rookie.   
  
"Hey, Katsuya, Shizuka-san. I overheard the chief sending you all on your way to the streets so I was wondering if I can be of any company"   
  
Otogi pushed himself away from the car and straightened his stance. Both of them stared levelly at one another.   
  
Yugi looked at both officers with slight confusion. The way they'd addressed each other was like as if they were hating one another. He didn't really see the rookie as someone who could make enemies with the most laid back officer from station 3. Something must be wrong.  
  
Jounouchi sighed and eyed Otogi's attire.   
  
"You're in your uniform. Are you allowed to drop your work just to accompany us?"  
  
Otogi shrugged casually and smiled secretly at Shizuka, who looked oblivious at them.  
  
"Fine. Fine. Let's get going. Shizuka, you go with agent Mutou. I feel bad about leaving you alone right now, Yugi-kun. I guess agent Ishtar is still in a trance, whatever trance that is" Katsuya tuned to his sister and Yugi.   
  
Shizuka brightened a bit. She could really get a bit independent on her brother. It just didn't feel right to stay with onii-chan all the time. She was old enough to be called an adult. Besides, her brother had other things to worry about like there's a killer out there going after rookie officers.   
  
"Don't worry about me, onii-chan. I'll be good" Shizuka smiled. Katsuya waved it away with an affectionate pat on her shoulder. He shot Otogi a look and pushed the other officer into the car. "Let's go"  
  
Not long afterwards the small police car went into the streets.  
  
"I thought you said you trust Shizuka-san to no one" Otogi pouted.   
  
"I did. But of course I know Shizuka will be fine with agent Mutou. He wouldn't do anything brash anyways" Katsuya responded and made a turn. "So what do you want?"  
  
"I'm surprised the inspector and agent Yuuki aren't here with you" Otogi looked over his seat, trying to see if one of Katsuya's superiors were around.   
  
"I can take care of most stuff myself" Katsuya huffed and rounded another corner.   
  
"Good to hear that. Now let's go to the back in your area" Otogi sat back lazily and laced his fingers together behind the back of his head.  
  
"Why?" Katsuya's question was left unanswered.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
9:00 AM  
  
Agent Yuuki was crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back in his chair.   
  
"I see that most of the message were easy" he said sternly and looked at the piece of paper with various scribbles here and there.   
  
He was sitting across inspector Kaiba's desk in the inspector's office, wearing the same rebellious clothes as last time. It had been a few days they'd managed to put everything together. An unsuspicious rookie had already suggested parts of the riddles   
  
"Maybe too easy" the inspector added and looked over at the scribbles on his piece of notepaper.   
  
"Have you told Jounouchi-san about it? The flowers and such" Yami looked over at the inspector, who shook his head. Negative.   
  
"That night he fell asleep on us, he'd been too clueless to figure his own words out"  
  
Yami nodded in understanding and took the piece of paper with his scribbles off the desk. "We can use his unsuspected mind to capture the killer"   
  
"What about the other?" the inspector didn't like to ask for approval but he had to ask the agent.   
  
"Human lives are valuable. We just have to wait and see. Besides shouldn't station 3 also be on the look out? Their rookie is just as clueless as mine unless you count our rookie's attitude" Yami stood up and let his arms fall by his sides. "I've a feeling we might be getting closer..."   
  
The inspector abruptly stood up. "You should be keeping an eye on them..."  
  
The phone rang, cutting off the rest of his sentence.  
  
"Hello, inspector Kaiba speaking" It came out automatically once he answered the phone.   
  
"Aa... hey, what?... No... why?... It's today?... I can't really promise you that..."   
  
Noting from the inspector's softened features Yami could only guess it's Mokuba on the other line. He gestured at the inspector just to get his attention and pointed at the door. He wanted to leave before anyone notice where he went. Yami waved vaguely and didn't look back to see if the inspector had acknowledged his departure.   
  
It was nothing personal when both of them were working together just to solve the case before any more lives were taken. Just something mutual was there.  
  
He grimaced slightly when he remembered not having the car with him. So taking walks wouldn't be that bad, right?  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
9:30 AM  
  
National Bank XXXX [4]  
  
Otogi strode back to Jounouchi from the bank's director's officer with some trench coats in his possession.   
  
Katsuya arched an eyebrow. "So... how did it go?"   
  
Otogi winked and smiled, "Great actually. Now put these on before it begins"   
  
The other officer passed Katsuya a trench coat and began slipping his arms into the other coat.   
  
"Where did you get these? Why must we wear them? What's going to begin?" Katsuya prodded, furrowing his brows in confusion. He still didn't get Otogi's motive. The taller officer had told him to drive to the bank in his area and then pursued the director to do something for them. And that something was something unknown to Katsuya.  
  
Otogi forced Katsuya into the trench coat and answered good-naturedly. "I've asked the director to lend some spare trench coats to us. They can hide our uniforms long enough if one doesn't strip that is. As for your last question... you just have to wait and see"   
  
Katsuya nodded absentmindedly and looked around for anyone who might have caught a glimpse of them slipping into coats. Luckily no one in particular was paying attention to them. The bankers were helping out their impatient clients with anything related to the bank. But unless one counted the security cameras, they were definitely being watched.  
  
"Try not to look too suspicious" Otogi whispered and strode gracefully past Jounouchi. Katsuya stood there, blinking.  
  
Out of nowhere someone seized him from behind and a gun was pointed at his head. The rookie couldn't help but gasped. Feeling the unexpected action had shot his heartbeat into a race.   
  
"EVERYBODY FREEZE! NOBODY MOVE!" A deep voice from behind him called out. A few masked men entered the building and closed the glassed doors just in case anyone wanted to move. Five men to be exact.  
  
One of them had even outnumbered the security guars with a jabs in their faces.  
  
A gun was pointed randomly around as the masked man pulled Katsuya towards the counter. The clients quivered nervously with their wide eyes and some even began to shake helplessly.   
  
"Empty the safes! One wrong move and I'LL BLOW YOUR BRAINS OUT!" The man threatened.   
  
"Y-yes, s-sir"  
  
Katsuya's eyes were still wide with fear. He winced inwardly when the man behind him threatened the poor lady behind the desk. His eyes darted around frantically searching for an escape. Cold sweat trailed down his spine as he felt his heart panicking. His stomach dropped at the thought of having his brains blown out of his head.   
  
Where was that Otogi?   
  
He gritted his teeth as the man took him along, impatiently. The robber aimed for something Jounouchi couldn't see and pulled the trigger.   
  
He flinched visibly hearing the booming shots much clearer than expected. He faintly heard some breaking and wondered if the man had shot the cameras.  
  
Somewhere in the background he heard some people cry out in shock and fear. Jounouchi could imagine the people getting down on the floor while clamping their hands over their ears.   
  
How the hell did Otogi know the bank was going to be robbed? Was he behind the scheme?  
  
Katsuya prayed he would if he ever got out of there alive, he would kill Otogi for this.   
  
"DON'T MOVE!" One of the robbers threatened and the other robbers held their guns ready. Someone was approaching them.   
  
The rookie's eyes went wide with fear again once he saw Otogi approaching them slowly.  
  
"Let the kid go... dare to shoot me..." Otogi said with a smile.   
  
The smile unnerved Katsuya to no end. The other officer must be silently laughing at his misfortune.   
  
"Who are you to say?" the man holding Jounouchi hostage, growled and pointed dangerously at the rookie's head. Otogi chuckled and shook his head. "Why don't you call out your men and give yourself over to the police then nothing bad will happen" [5] Otogi smiled seriously and stuck his hand into the coat. Suddenly the gun was aimed at his chest.  
  
"Just cards" Otogi smiled mysteriously and took out a stack of cars. Jounouchi glared holes into the other's head more in confusion though. What's the idiot thinking? What's with the cards? Was Otogi using him as a shield too?  
  
"What kind of cards?" The robber asked curiously, noticing the differences between just playing cards and the kid's cards.   
  
"Tarot, my friend. I'll checked your card..." Otogi smirked as he took out a card without turning it around. The look on Otogi's face mad it clear that he knew what he's doing. Confidence was radiating from his body, Katsuya noted sarcastically.  
  
"Wipe that smirk off your face, boy. I don't like it one bit" the gun was still aimed at Otogi's chest.   
  
The card in Otogi's choosing hand was flipped around and descended on to the tiled floor.  
  
"...Death...," Katsuya whispered and furrowed his brows. He had no idea what the 'Death card' meant and just assumed it meant the death of someone. Most likely the one holding him from behind [6].   
  
Suddenly Otogi flung a pair of dices into the robber's face and jumped for cover. Now he hoped the rookie would get the idea.   
  
The man holding the rookie grunted angrily.   
  
As confused as Katsuya might be, he didn't like being helpless. Once he heard the man behind him cursed in pain, he elbowed him hard in the ribs. Katsuya whirled around and quickly grabbed for the gun. In the process of gaining dominance over the robber, Katsuya had to twist the armed arm around and seize the man from behind. The rookie struggled to get the man down and instantly kicked at the man's feet.   
  
The robber let out a yelp as he toppled over. He felt someone was sitting on his back, keeping him down.   
  
"You're under arrest" Katsuya smirked. He'd wanted to say that in a long time.   
  
He looked for Otogi. The other officer was taking care of the rest of the robbers.   
  
He threw dices as weapons?, Katsuya frowned.   
  
Otogi smirked at Katsuya's direction and held up a stick. It was as if he'd read Katsuya' s thoughts. He slammed the stick into one of the robbers' ribs [7].  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
10:30 AM  
  
You knew about the robbery, didn't you?" Katsuya glared at Otogi and crossed his arms disapprovingly over his chest. They were back in revealing their usual blue police uniform.   
  
After the supposed robbers had been taken away Katsuya kept glaring daggers at Otogi.   
  
He, however, smirked good-naturedly at the rookie and laughed out loud.   
  
"You should've seen your face! It was priceless!" Otogi hollered and slapped his thigh exaggeratingly just to prove his point how funny he meant.   
  
Katsuya furrowed his brows and pointed an accusing finger at Otogi's chest.  
  
"That's NOT funny! You were behind all that weren't you? You should be ashamed of yourself. Wearing this uniform do you no justice in protecting human lives [8]" Katsuya ranted and poked harshly at Otogi's chest. The rookie stomped towards his small police car.  
  
Otogi flinched a little and laughed nervously. "You got it all wrong, Jounouchi-san. I didn't really know you were going to be he hostage. I'd used cards to display the unpredictable future and I sort of checked your cards. 'Wheels of Fortune' came out. It means you just either have misfortunes or fortunes today... [6]" He explained while following the rookie closely. Katsuya rolled his eyes.   
  
"Just great!" he muttered. "Let a card reader predict my future. All gibberish! [9]"   
  
Otogi looked hurt by that comment. All chances of wooing the rookie's sister had zeroed. There was no option to be approved by her big brother. He hung his head in defeat.  
  
As they neared the car Katsuya gasped out and his eyes widened. "How...?"  
  
Otogi looked confused at the rookie and then at the car. He looked just as surprised as Katsuya. Inside the car there were bushes of flowers. Red roses and blue violets.   
  
Katsuya narrowed his eyes and whirls around, searching for whoever might be keeping an eye on them. Chances were that the sender of the flowers might still be around.   
  
He slumped his shoulders and sighed. Negative. Someone must be playing tricks with them.   
  
"Someone broke into your car and left them" Otogi pointed out at the damaged window.   
  
The glass shards were either on the ground or in the car.   
  
"Heh! What's with people nowadays? It's too obvious they broke into the car. They must have done that on purpose" Katsuya grumbled and opened the door, where the window had been broken, to the front seat.   
  
"Kachou will definitely be mad"   
  
He searched the car for a small broom and carefully brushed the shards away from the front seats. Whoever's stalking him was really getting a bit too obsessed. Couldn't this admirer just leave the flowers on his doorstep? It was kind of creepy to find the flowers in his car as if this certain someone was keeping an eye on his every move.   
  
"I think we should leave the car back at the station. There's no telling if someone's going to steal this cheap car" Otogi commented as he leaned casually against the car, watching Katsuya brush away the shards.   
  
"This lovey-dovey thing is getting on my nerves" Katsuya growled and took the flowers. He instantly dumped them in a nearby thrash can and stepped into the driver's seat.   
  
"Isn't that a bit harsh?" Otogi arched an eyebrow once Katsuya had gotten into the car. "What if you're breaking her heart just by doing that?"  
  
"Do I care?! I'm in the middle of "working-my-way-up-to-become-an-agent"… hopefully. I've no time for this secretive love stuff" Katsuya pointed out irritatingly and turned on the ignition.   
  
Click.  
  
"Oh shit!"  
  
Not long afterwards the car exploded.   
  
*.*.*.*.* End chapter 7*.*.*.*.*  
  
Endnotes:  
  
1: ^^;; Isn't his hair already white?   
  
2: ^^;; Let's just say they're the oldest of the group, but not really counted as grandfathers yet. Let's just say their ages are around the 30+. So they don't really have white hair yet unless you count Yami Bakura's hair as some aging process ^_^;; *hides*  
  
3: Must be very hard to see Pegasus as someone like that, ne? ^_^;;  
  
4: Uhm... *scratches head* I haven't been doing my homework lately so I don't really know any banks. So please just see it as some savings bank.  
  
5: *laughs nervously* ehehehe... isn't he a bit too unreasonable? How ironic is that sentence _ *hides from Otogi fans* I didn't mean to make him a bit weird.  
  
6: *smiles innocently* I know it gets a bit more ironic. Those who know Tarot please forgive me for my lack of knowledge, but still there's a reason why I made it a bit clueless.   
  
7: That's actually injustice. One just couldn't hurt another one unless it's in defense to protect oneself from the other. *Frowns at herself* why did I make Otogi this bad?  
  
8: *whistles innocently* I didn't know how that came in there. *Points at Wufei from Gundam Wing* Maybe he did it?  
  
9: -_- Please forgive me for putting that comment. Please don't take it offensive.  
  
~_~ I told you this chapter is a bit disappointing. How weird was the middle section? I mean when the robber had a gun pointed at Jounouchi... it's just too unrealistic _ I've tried my best to write it a bit realistic, but I think my mood didn't do any justice to that section ;_; Sorry. And uh... I've somehow found a lot of plot holes ;_; there are somewhere in this story, right? ;_; Sorry for overlooking some things too. And also... those long notes *hangs head* So sorry.   
  
Edit: Went to check out this chapter and found some typos. I apologize for the inconvenience.  
  
=^_^=cin 


	9. Chapter 8: Ojos del muerte

Title: Haima  
  
Author: Nekocin  
  
Email: Neko_cin_6@hotmail.com  
  
Genres: Various--- Action and Romance as main genres (I hope Romance wouldn't be so screwed up .).  
  
Type: AU   
  
Anime: Yu-gi-oh   
  
Warnings: Shounen-ai, Violence. Maybe some OOC. In this chapter OOC and some sad one-sided love *sniffles*.  
  
Pairings: Seto+Jou... here, only hints of Yami Malik+Malik and Malik+Yami Bakura  
  
Rated: PG-13  
  
Disclaimer: Anime in question doesn't belong to me. Never was. Never will.   
  
Author's notes:   
  
;_; People, people please forgive me. There's still no interaction between the two. I'll promise there will be some hints here and there in the next few chapters. -_-;; I'm getting the feeling this story gets a bit too unrealistic. -_-;; I've also noticed my beginning of "Haima" was much better than the middle section ;_; ;_; ;_; WHY?? *cries* I always seem to stray away from the subject ;_; and the story gets a whacked out new thing ;_;. That's a bad sign.   
  
Oh by the way I forgot to answer the question to someone who'd asked where I got that name "Haku" for Yami Bakura in this fic. ^^;; Just thought about that white dragon from one of Miyazaki's works (forgot the name -_-;; I'll look it up). Since Yami Bakura has white/silver hair I sort of used that kid's name. Hehehehe ^^;;  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"This lovey-dovey thing is getting on my nerves" Katsuya growled and took the flowers. He instantly dumped them in a nearby thrash can and stepped into the driver's seat.   
  
"Isn't that a bit harsh?" Otogi arched an eyebrow once Katsuya had gotten into the car. "What if you're breaking her heart just by doing that?"  
  
"Do I care?! I'm in the middle of 'working my way up to become an agent_hopefully. I've no time for this secretive love stuff" Katsuya pointed out irritatingly and turned on the ignition.   
  
Click.  
  
"Oh shit!"  
  
Not long afterwards the car exploded.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~   
  
Chapter 8: Ojos del muerte  
  
10:55 AM  
  
Yami looked horrified as soon as the car exploded. He'd seen the rookie and some officer step into the car. Yami wanted to call out Jounouchi's name, but...  
  
"Dammit! We're so close keeping them safe from the killer! None of the answers how they're going to die were right! Dammit!" Yami cursed and ran over to the exploded car.   
  
People began to look at the exploded car in confusion.   
  
"Jounouchi-san!?" He called out in vain and then stopped half way. He looked at the dancing flames and narrowed his eyes. Something at the back of his head told him that this explosion might not be their killer's doing. Besides he somehow felt their killer wouldn't stoop so low just to kill his victims without coming face-to-face with them.  
  
Yami turned around, cautiously as if someone might pounce on him when he'd the least expected.   
  
THERE!  
  
A familiar face had just caught his attention.   
  
Yami's eyes widened when he recognized the face. He instantly whirled around, heading straight towards the person who'd just disappeared around the corner.   
  
Yami quickly caught up with the person whom he'd suspected of putting the explosion in the engines.   
  
"Stop right there!" He switched into his justice mode and narrowed his eyes at the back of someone wearing a dark purple tunic. [1]  
  
The person chuckled casually and looked over his shoulder, "What a surprise to see you here"  
  
His light indigo eyes flashed dangerously and the owner smirked.  
  
Yami looked disapprovingly at the man in front of him.   
  
"You did that, didn't you? The explosion was because of you, wasn't it?"   
  
Yami glared, feeling something heavy on his chest. He just felt responsible for the rookie's death. What would he say to the rookie's sister? The girl would definitely want to be with her brother too.   
  
"They were not worth it" The stranger commented and ran ass soon as he'd found his chance. Stupid rebel wanted to stop him again.  
  
"Halt, Mariku [2]!" Yami kicked himself out of his daze when he noticed his suspect was escaping.   
  
He ran.   
  
"Dammit!," he cursed out loud and ran as fast as he could just to keep up with 'Mariku'.  
  
Within a few more big strides, Yami pounced on 'Mariku'. They wrestled their way up: one was trying to get loose; the other was trying to hold him in his custody.  
  
Not long after that Yami pulled 'Mariku' by his tunic and dragged him along the way.  
  
"Now you'll answer to me why you've to pull that trick on the kid" Yami smirked proudly because he'd caught 'Mariku' at last. But a part of him still felt responsible for the rookie's death. They'd lost yet another_no... They'd lost two rookies.   
  
'Mariku' snorted and choose not to answer. Besides no one can make him blurt it out. They had no right to use force unless... there were other stuff at stake.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
11:00 AM  
  
From the shadows someone gritted his teeth.   
  
He'd been watching the rookie and the other officer going into the car. He was satisfied they'd noticed the flowers. But as soon as the car had started, the police car exploded.  
  
How could this be?  
  
He didn't put any explosive stuff in the car's engines. And he thought he was going to strike that night.   
  
He was quite angry about the fate of those two officers. He'd wanted to confront either of them in person before they could die in his hands.   
  
But it was neither. Someone had done it before he could.   
  
He clenched his fists and backed into the shadows.   
  
He suddenly stopped in his tracks.   
  
He hadn't seen their lifeless bodies yet. Why was he assuming? He should base their deaths on facts, right? Right.  
  
He snorted mentally and looked over his shoulder at the burning car. Something told him that they weren't really dead. As soon as the two officers stood up from the other side of the car, his suspicions had been right.  
  
"I knew they were going to be fun targets," he commented.  
  
It was time to choose the next available victim just in case if anything bad would happen to those two officers.   
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
  
  
11:20 AM  
  
Agent Ishtar was shoving a few casual clothes into a bag. He took one last glance at his apartment and closed the door. His sister had just been released from the hospital. He wanted to live close to his sister and so decided to move into her house.   
  
Of course his sister was glad to have someone around, after living alone for so long.  
  
"Are you okay, Malik?" his sister asked once he approached the car, which almost took her life. Malik had let it be repaired after she got admitted to the hospital. It did cost a lot on his budget. But he didn't mind. His sister's life came first.  
  
Ishizu was sitting at the front seat next to the driver's seat. She'd been patiently waiting till her brother was done packing his stuff.   
  
"Yeah, just a bit excited about living close to you, one-chan," Malik smiled brightly and dumped the last bag into the car. He took the seat behind the wheel and started the car.  
  
Ishizu just shook her head sadly. Her brother was such a bad liar. As his big sister, she was able to recognize most of Malik's sorrow that had been mirrored in his eyes.   
  
"You're going to miss him, aren't you?" she asked cautiously and peered curiously at her younger brother. She hoped he wouldn't get mad if she mentioned someone particular whom he was seeing.   
  
Malik stared at the front road and a ghost of a smile graced his lips. He remembered the night when he'd gotten over agent Haku. It was that night he'd met someone quite interesting.  
  
"Maybe... I just hope he stops being mean to the other," Malik responded at last and drove the car out of the parking lot. He took a deep breath and tried to enjoy the new fuzzy feeling in his chest. Malik wanted to grab it and roll it around on his stomach. The great thing about this sensation was that it felt like hugging a pillow. The problem was... what's the feeling called?   
  
He was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts when Ishizu pulled on his sleeve. The car paused a bit once they'd reached the stoplight.  
  
"Malik..."   
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
She pointed out of his window. "It's agent Yuuki"   
  
Malik wondered what agent Yuuki might be doing that had caught his sister's attention. His sister wasn't someone who got interested that easily.  
  
"Agent Ishtar!" Yami greeted breathlessly and dragged someone next to him. The other agent nodded the greeting in acknowledgement and carefully drove the car closer to the sidewalk.  
  
"It's great that you're here. Please take him to the station," Yami panted heavily.  
  
Malik's eyes widened as soon as he caught sight of someone familiar-looking. "You...!"   
  
No wonder that his sister seemed interested...  
  
'Mariku' laughed heartily and smirked at Malik.   
  
"Do you still remember me?"  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
11:10 AM  
  
Someone coughed violently and then groaned painfully. Brown eyes slid open half way and the owner winced instantly. Pain coursed through his body in great speed. His head began to throb when he'd noticed he was lying on his stomach.   
  
"W-what had happened?" he croaked out and slowly but carefully turned around to look up at the sky. It was still a beautiful morning; he noted when he looked intently at the clear blue sky. He moved his body a bit and flinched.   
  
"Where am I?" he wondered out loud and could faintly see gray smoke wandering off towards the sky. Katsuya then noticed how hot his body became. Something was being burned close by.   
  
A silhouette looked over at him. "Are you done looking at the sky?" The voice seemed far away and yet a bit too close.   
  
Katsuya blinked a few times and squinted his eyes. Someone who'd stared at the sky for too long was definitely going to see a lot of dark patches.  
  
"Uhm... hey"   
  
He smiled weakly and brought a hand over his eyes, trying to blink away the weariness. Katsuya pulled his hand away and looked up.   
  
He blinked.  
  
"Can you see me?" the person looking down at him, had said. The tone, which he'd used, was devoid from any known emotions.   
  
The silhouette became a bit clearer.   
  
A very sharp sculpted face was hovering over Katsuya's face. Cobalt blue eyes stared unmoving right back at him. A strong small but visible_ nose adorned his face while a knowing thin line of lips completed the face.  
  
Katsuya smiled, hoping that it might answer his question.   
  
"Inspector Kaiba," he saluted and grinned unconsciously.   
  
The inspector nodded and held a hand in front of Katsuya's eyes. He felt embarrassed to use the famous 'V' sign.  
  
"How many fingers do I have here?"  
  
Katsuya rolled his eyes. "Two. What had happened? What's cooking?"   
  
The inspector looked blankly at the rookie. "What's the last thing you remember doing before you'd passed out?"   
  
Katsuya looked thoughtful for a while. "Cleaning shards from the front seat of the car"   
  
He frowned but quickly was attacked by a stabbing pain in his head. Aa... no use trying to pounce some past events.  
  
"Shards?" the inspector arched an eyebrow.   
  
"Yeah... someone broke the window just to give me these bushes of flowers" Katsuya scratched his head unconsciously and furrowed his brows. He felt he'd forgotten something… or rather someone's presence.  
  
"Otogi! Where's he?" he shouted out in worry.   
  
"Right here, kiddo," another face hovered above Katsuya's face. The other officer offered his trademark smile, reassuring Katsuya that he was okay. He chuckled when he noticed the rookie letting out a sigh of relief.   
  
It felt great to be reassured that the other's life hadn't been taken... yet.   
  
"So what had actually happened?" the inspector asked impatiently.   
  
"I guess it was sort of an impulse once Jounouchi-san had started the car. I'm not sure how we got out but either way one of us had pushed the other push of the car", Otogi explained and stood up straight.   
  
"I guess we should walk," Katsuya sighed and carefully pushed himself to sit up. He looked sadly at the still burning car and sighed again. "The chief will be pissed"  
  
"I'm here hovering above you and you're worrying about the pathetic car?" the inspector almost shouted out incredulously if not angry.   
  
"Hey, it's not pathetic!" Katsuya growled, quite annoyed somehow. "It's more flexible than any average car"   
  
"What are you implying?" the inspector narrowed his eyes. He couldn't quite pinpoint what the rookie was trying to say. It sounded ridiculous to hear that from a rookie who had somehow finished training school.   
  
Maybe something magical had happened there? The inspector really doubted that could be an option... somehow he suspected the rookie was still clueless about what he was really implying.  
  
"The whole thing had just been barbequed!!! How are we supposed to chase down race freaks?" Katsuya shouted out, angrily. His ragged breathing had made it clear he was still angry and yet found no words to describe what he really meant. And... Why the hell was he talking about the car? Maybe he was just frustrated? Yeah... but why take it on someone like the inspector?  
  
"Why are you still talking about the car? It's been destroyed..."  
  
"It was a nice car"   
  
The inspector frowned again. Wha?   
  
Heh! He should've known why they had put the rookie at station 6. It was practically because of officer Jounouchi's attitude. He stayed brash indeed, jumping into things... or was it just something different? All in all the inspector noticed the rookie was definitely going to be an easy victim. Like someone walking towards a quick death.   
  
Those authorities were quite unfair... why did they do this for?  
  
...  
  
"Seems like we're closer to death than expected"   
  
Katsuya took a deep breath, trying not to concentrate on the pain and pushed himself off the ground. He brushed some dirt from his pants and thought about the unnecessary conversation. Damn. He hoped he didn't have a concussion...   
  
"Aa..." was the only response that came from Otogi.   
  
"But you did say my area has a lot of criminals, am I right? So I guess that's sort of an answer to the explosion," Katsuya pointed out thoughtfully and ran his nervous fingers through his hair.   
  
"The poor car" he muttered absentmindedly an sighed. ACK! It's that car again! Katsuya growled absently and tried to gather his original thoughts.  
  
"So tell us, inspector. How did you know we're here? I don't see any back up here. Everyone in this area is ignoring us so...,"  
  
"That's a good question," Otogi commented and eyed the inspector.   
  
The inspector looked at both of them in return. Rookies_especially those who have potential_ were often curious that they wanted to know everything, never minding the consequences if there were any.   
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
12:03 AM  
  
The inspector hadn't answered their question. He chose not to tell the rookies his true intentions. Of course they seemed to get a clue about the killer going after rookies. Although they'd no idea whom the killer was after. As clueless as the youngest, Katsuya, might be, he was still being dutiful. He continued his daily patrol on foot while Otogi tagged along. Because the inspector gave them a lack of response. Katsuya had left him alone.  
  
"There's something they aren't telling me about," Katsuya commented and looked over at Otogi, who was checking his tarot cards.  
  
"Hm," Otogi's brows were knitted together in annoyance as he picked out a card. He growled under his breath and shuffled the cards again.  
  
"I've a bad card," Otogi explained when he noticed Katsuya looking at him. He picked out a card and growled in annoyance.  
  
"What's wrong?" Katsuya peered curiously at the card.  
  
"Death,"   
  
Then it suddenly came up to him. Tarot cards have a lot of different meanings, he noted. He remembered having read about that in some review at the back of a book.  
  
"Do you even know how to read Tarot cards? Shouldn't you meditate or something?," Katsuya continued to look where he's walking. He wondered how dangerous his area might be. Otogi sighed dejectedly and put away the cards.  
  
"Not really. I can only remember pieces of meanings. You're right, while reading Tarot one must meditate and stuff, just to understand," Otogi answered and looked at the sky.  
  
"Besides... I've sort of this feeling that today I've a bad omen. You can't just get four times a Death card in a row after shuffling the cards over and over again...,"  
  
"Let go! Let me go! I'm warning you! Let go!," someone called out angrily. If one listened carefully, one could find the fear in his tones. Katsuya's attention immediately snapped. His eyes darted around in search for some screaming kid. A racing car honked annoyingly past him.  
  
"Shit!," was the only thing he'd uttered out and ran. The car was going way too fast in the empty streets. It might hit someone. Three tall men were standing on the side walk and they were lifting a squirming teenager off the ground. Something clicked in his mind and without a second thought, Katsuya stormed into their direction. This scene looked familiar.  
  
"Let go!!,"  
  
"Halt! What's the meaning of this?," officer Jounouchi demanded. One of the tall men turned around and blocked Katsuya's sight.  
  
"Nothing's wrong, officer,"  
  
A fist was flung into his face. Something cracked. Katsuya gasped when he felt the pain in his nose and dropped onto the ground. The world got a bit hazy and people began to swirl around in front of him.  
  
"Let go! I'm warning you! Let go!" the teenager thrashed violently.  
  
"See if anyone is going to save you now," one of the strangers whispered to the boy and they threw him into the middle of the street. The black-haired teenager fell hard on his sides and cried out in pain as he rolled into the streets. The racing car zoomed straight towards him and honked madly in mocking.  
  
"Jounou_," Otogi called out and wanted to help out. He was quickly cut off by a heavy hit on his head and fell unconscious.  
  
THUD.  
  
*.*.*.*.* End chapter 8*.*.*.*.*  
  
Endnotes:  
  
1: You know. That robe thing Malik and his followers wore.  
  
2: 9_9 There's a story behind this. I mean how did Yami know the guy's name and all... I'm thinking about putting that story in either one of the side-fics. Not sure which one... ^^;;   
  
I like to thank:  
  
Jou-pup: ^_^ I'm glad you're sticking around to see what's going to happen next. As for your request for more fluff... ~_~ I'm sorry. Like the notes mentioned above said... the story is getting a bit 'off'. But please have patience. Thank you for being around *hugs* @-----  
  
Akimi: ^^;; I know I've some errors here and there... I just can't seem to see them. ^^;; I apologize for the inconvenience. @-----  
  
Lily Maxwell The Dark Angel: Aa... don't worry about not having reviewed each chapter. I wasn't really expecting someone to do that, but it's kind of refreshing to have a change, ne? Thank you for sticking around. Thank you for sticking around. @-----  
  
Misura: *huggles* You seem to be one of the few people who had reviewed my other stories here and there. I appreciate all your comments and the whole explaining behind them. I really love your reviews. Thank you for sticking around. @-----  
  
Shadowy Fluffball: ^^;; Hi. I see that you're quite eager about the REAL stuff behind the pairing. @-----  
  
dragon_lover_ryushi& DeathWish: Lol. I like your review. Quite amusing there. I see that you two also want to see where this might head... @-----  
  
=^_^=cin 


	10. Chapter 9: Garras del muerte

**Title:** Haima  
**Author: ** Nekocin  
**Email: **Neko_cin_6@hotmail.com  
**Genres:** Various---> Action and Romance as main genres (I hope Romance wouldn't be so screwed up >.>).  
**Type:** AU   
**Anime: **Yu-gi-oh   
**Warnings: ** Shounen-ai, Violence. Maybe some OOC. In this chapter Jounouchi's OOC  
**Pairings:** Seto+Jou... here, slight Yami+Yugi.   
**Rated: ** PG-13  
**Disclaimer: ** Anime in question doesn't belong to me. Never was. Never will.   
**Author's notes: **  
This is the most unrealistic part of my story >_>;; It's quite disappointing to be honest even though I've tried my best to put some character interaction *cries* I still can't get the formula right! Oh, by the way... please read the excuse at the end of this chapter ^_^.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
**Chapter 9: Garras del muerte  
**  
12:25 PM  
  
The teenager was thrown into the middle of the street. He yelped in pain once he hit the hard ground. He heard something that sounded familiar like a crack.   
  
The car headed straight towards him.   
The teenager braced himself for the blow as his heart quickened. There wasn't enough time to move. His feet were paralyzed with pain. He pinched his eyes closed.   
Everything went in a blur. Everything happened so fast that no one expected someone to do something about the unnecessary death of some kid.   
  
Someone pounced unexpectedly on the teenager and pulled him along, rolling quickly to the other side of the street. The boy groaned in pain, having to roll a few times over a hard street was not so good. He wondered if he was supposed to be unconscious or dead.  
  
"Hey kid, you okay?" the voice sounded unfamiliar. Someone was breathing heavily close by.   
The teenager tentatively opened his eyes and with a dazed expression glanced at the person over him. Blood was trickling down the officer's nose.   
Katsuya gave him a reassuring smile and quickly put his hand over his broken nose.   
The black-haired boy wondered if this was the officer who wanted to stop those men from throwing him in front of a racing car.   
  
The car tires screeched, catching both of their attention. The rookie quickly hauled the teenager on his feet and pulled him onto the sidewalk. He cursed silently for having to work alone. Where was that Otogi when you needed him the most?!  
  
Suddenly someone else was thrown in front of the racing car. The guy whimpered in pain, but didn't make a move. Katsuya frowned; someone must have tackled the guy. That wasn't supposed to happen.   
  
He quickly buried the face of the teenager in an embrace. He could've rescued the guy but his feet stood frozen on the sidewalk.  
  
The car tires screeched again. The driver had swerved the wheel to the sides, afraid that he might run over his comrade. The unfortunate car hit a lamppost and had sent the driver into the front glass.  
  
"MOKUBA!"   
  
The teenager snapped his head up when someone called his name. The voice sounded familiar... Katsuya looked confused at the teenager, whose eyes began to sparkle.   
  
"ONII-CHAN!" He whirled around and watched as his brother made long strides just to cross the street. He was dragging two guys by their collars. Impressive.  
  
Officer Jounouchi looked a bit dazed as the inspector strode towards them. The swirled images hadn't subsided yet.   
  
The inspector looked relieved when the teenager gave him a quick hug. It seemed the inspector had witnessed the whole dangerous game of life with his brother as main victim. He'd immediately tackled the ones who were responsible for threatening Mokuba's life.   
  
"Are you all right, Mokuba?" The inspector asked softly and patted the teenager affectionately.   
  
"Hai. I'm okay"   
  
Katsuya blinked a few times and wondered if he was intruding something personal between the Kaiba brothers. He shifted his gaze away from the brothers and looked at the victims in the inspector's grasp.   
He brought up his hand over his nose, trying to stop the bleeding. Katsuya glared at the taller men whom he'd tried to stop earlier.   
  
"What's the meaning of this whole... sacrifice?" Katsuya kneeled close to one of the thugs (a.k.a. those big bad guys). He had flinched when he heard his unusual voice through a broken nose. As expected the thugs refused to answer his question.   
  
He thought about his broken nose for a while and wondered vaguely about the driver. And what about the one who got thrown into the street.   
Suddenly he felt enraged. It's INJUSTICE! The car had almost killed that teenager, Mokuba. What if the kid had been Shizuka?   
RECKLESS DRIVERS!!!  
Maybe he should act more like a serious agent instead of some whimpering first-timer.  
  
Suddenly a foreign chuckle escaped through his throat. Katsuya narrowed his eyes and peered at the two anonymous thugs from under his bangs.   
"You know what? It really doesn't matter," he commented out of nowhere.  
  
The inspector raised an eyebrow at the rookie's first attempt of sounding intimidating. It sounded serious and yet entertaining. The rookie hauled the two anonymous men towards the other bad guy in the middle of the street.   
  
"What are you doing, officer Jounouchi?" The inspector called out.   
  
"You know him, onii-chan?" Mokuba looked up at his taller brother. Boy. Someday he might out height his own brother.   
Mokuba also had no idea what the officer was going to do.   
  
"Sort of. He's just a rookie"   
The inspector crossed his arms over his chest.   
  
"Really? He's kind of strong for someone that skinny" Mokuba commented, referring to that desperate rescue a few moments ago.   
  
The inspector was still eyeing the rookie skeptically. What was the rookie planning? Maybe the rookie was planning on making them speak? Because he had no idea why they wanted to kill his younger brother. Inspector Kaiba gritted his teeth when he thought about that. If he hadn't been following the rookie, he wouldn't have saved Mokuba from getting run over.  
"Why did they want to run you over?"   
  
Mokuba shrugged, not knowing the proper answer. "Maybe they're trying to break you?"   
THAT hit a nerve as the inspector unconsciously clenched his fists.   
  
"I dare you even to try escaping me" Katsuya hissed menacingly and dropped them near the other anonymous thug (the unconscious guy on the street).   
He crossed his arms thoughtfully and began circling them. He hoped this tactic might work and let out a low chuckle. It became sharp and edgy afterwards. He kept his eyes narrowed at the silent men.  
  
"As you can see..." Katsuya took out a small knife from his pockets and began playing with the innocent object. He threw the knife from one hand to the other hand. "... I would love to carve your skin from your body with this little jewel of mine" [1]  
  
"What's he doing?" the inspector wondered out loud. Mokuba had arched an eyebrow... the rookie acted like one maniac.  
  
Katsuya gave them a glimpse of his maniacal eyes and held the knife close to his face once he inched closer to his supposed victims. He let his tongue dart over the metal of the knife and grinned genuinely when he noticed their disgusted look.   
  
"Do you want to lick it too?" He smirked inwardly at his awkward gesture as he held the knife close to one of his 'victims'. The guy turned away, disgusted indeed.  
  
Katsuya pulled away slowly and crawled to his next 'victim', after putting the knife between his teeth. "What about you?" he whispered huskily and gave his victim an indescribable look. He held the knife closer to the other's face, ignoring the blood, which still oozed out of his nostrils. "So... still want to taste it?"  
  
Their 'tormentor' definitely resembled a psychopath right now.   
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
13:00 PM  
  
Mariku smirked as he looked at the back of agent Ishtar's head. He could tell the agent felt uncomfortable to have his back turned to him, especially when he'd been attacked the previous week.   
  
Yami had forced Mariku to go along with agent Ishtar back to the station. For some reasons unknown Mariku felt proud to have put some difficulty in the rebellious-looking officer's life. The sour look on the guy's face told him so.  
  
Both the Ishtar siblings had no idea that their rookie had been blown up about an hour ago. Yami silently told himself that once they were back at the station he would announce the rookie's death. He wondered nervously what the others might say. They really didn't have any problems with the rookie unless you counted his temper and the mouth. He smiled sadly. The quilt was wringing his heart mercilessly.  
  
Ishizu was the only one who seemed to feel all edgy sorts of feelings radiating from all three men in the small car. She noticed her brother's nervousness and rage, Yami's quilt-stricken aura and indifference and lastly, her brother's look-a-like Mariku's mysteriousness and pride.   
She wondered what kind of situation they'd gotten themselves into and sighed. An uncomfortable silence came afterwards.  
  
Occasionally Malik glanced at the rear mirror just to see what Mariku's next move might be. His hands around the wheel were sweating, without doubt, in anticipation. He was bracing himself for any unexpected action. Agent Ishtar groaned inwardly, he sounded like some vulnerable target.   
  
UGH! The damn look-a-like was still looking smugly at him. He glared at the reflection of Mariku and suppressed the urge to poke those eyes out of the prisoner's head.   
  
Mariku threw him a smirk as if having caught up with his train of thoughts. The officer was quite one paranoid person. AND a good target too. A target that might help him escape from being captured.   
  
Yami ignored his prisoner. The guy was nuts! Maybe agent Ishtar was taking this a bit too seriously, because Yami could see how hard Malik was struggling with his rising rage.   
He looked outside of the window. The car instantly stopped...  
  
"Agent Yuuki... you've got to see this" Malik said nervously and threw a cautious look at the other officer. Yami raised an eyebrow and looked at the front. He immediately jumped out of the car and rushed towards the group in the middle of the street, leaving his companions behind in the car.   
  
There were three men sitting on the streets while a certain dirty-blonde officer was hovering around them like a cat cornering his mouse.   
  
"Jounouchi-san! You're alive?" he breathed out a sigh of relief when he approached the other. Katsuya grinned and held up a knife in greeting. Yami winced when he saw the swollen nose.   
  
"Hey, agent Yuuki... I think we just got lucky. Please stand on the sideline with the Kaiba siblings while I finish these guys" Katsuya let out a low, yet uncharacteristic menacing chuckle and shot his attention towards the men on the streets.   
"Let's start with you, hon" He said sweetly and kneeled closer to one of his latest 'victims'.   
Yami watched as the supposed victims squirm when the rookie came closer with the knife.   
  
"Speaking of 'we'... where's Otogi?" Katsuya wondered and looked over at the other side of the street where he and Otogi had been walking. He stood up abruptly and ran towards the said sidewalk.   
After Katsuya had lost his attention on the three thugs, Yami watched in amusement when the supposed victims let out a sigh of relief. The agent looked inquiringly at the inspector, who was approaching them firmly.  
  
"So... care to tell me why you did that?" inspector Kaiba emphasized the 'that' as soon as he got close to one of Katsuya's supposed victims. Of course he was referring to their mission of killing his younger brother.   
  
"Okay... okay... okay. I'll tell! Just get me away from that freak of an officer!"   
  
The inspector merely quirked up an eyebrow and looked for the mischievous rookie.   
  
Katsuya frowned as soon as he saw the scattered Tarot cards. He looked around for a familiar green-eyed officer, but was at a loss.   
"Where did he go?" he muttered worriedly and looked at the dark alley on his right. He got this stinking feeling Otogi was in bad hands.   
"Agent Yuuki! Inspector Kaiba! Officer Ryuuji is missing!" he panicked when those words came out.   
  
"How can you be sure?" a deep voice inquired smoothly. The rookie let out a yelp of surprise and jumped away in defense.   
  
"Don't do that! The first time someone did that I almost got my brains blown out"  
  
The inspector glared at the rookie. "Don't talk like that in front of Mokuba" [2]  
The said person pulled on to his brother's sleeve, tentatively.   
"Onii-chan!" He chided and threw the rookie a polite look. "Ignore my brother's comment. At the university we get to do stuff that relates to the human body. So it's okay, onii-chan. We get to see guts too..." Mokuba paused and bit on his lower lip, nervously. His eyes darted to the small car in which those big guys were put in.   
  
"I see..." Katsuya murmured nervously, having no clue what Mokuba had meant and slowly picked up Otogi's Tarot cards.  
  
"Oh! Almost forgot, I'm Kaiba Mokuba. Nice to meet you and I'm grateful you've saved my life" He bowed politely. The rookie returned the bow. "Jounouchi Katsuya. It's a pleasure to meet you... Don't worry about it. Just doing my job" The reply almost sounded cheery.   
  
Mokuba smiled, but stopped himself immediately.   
"Shoot! I'm late! They're going to kill me... no, they'll fry me first, barbeque me next, add some more sauce and then eat me alive... if I'm alive enough" Mokuba suddenly panicked as soon as he looked at his watch.   
  
13:30 PM  
  
"Ja ne, onii-chan. Ja ne, Jounouchi-kun. I hope we'll see each other again" the younger Kaiba chirped and winked at his big brother, before running around some corner.   
  
Katsuya waved faintly before looking at the Tarot cards. "Is he the victim of the red roses riddle?"   
He fingered slowly with the hems of his sleeves and eyed the inspector sternly.   
  
The inspector jerked his attention to the rookie, his eyes looking a bit dazed after his brother's last action. They stood there in front of each other, staring... nothing much was revealed from their guarded eyes.   
  
The uncomfortable silence stretched.  
  
>>  
Agent Yuuki watched the two exchanged glances without revealing much. He wondered if one of them was starting some staring contest. He glanced worriedly at agent Ishtar's small car. There wasn't enough room to put everyone in the passenger seat. He sighed and brightened at the idea of calling agent Mutou or assistance [3].   
Yami had completely missed the horrified look agent Ishtar was giving him, pleading even. The color was drained from Malik's face. Ishizu frowned at her brother's discolored face. "What's wrong?"  
  
"N-nothing" he answered nervously and sat a bit on the edge of the driver's seat, inching away from a certain look-a-like at the back of his car.  
>>  
  
"Fine! Keep it as a secret!" Katsuya growled, being the first to cut the staring abruptly. He put away the cards and whirled towards the direction of the alley on his left. The rookie promptly left the inspector without giving him a second glance.   
  
Katsuya wondered if the killer went into the alley and curiously climbed over the filthy walls. If the killer were to take another route there would be a big chance that the inspector might have seen him walking away with a bundle named Otogi. So the alley it is.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
12:55 PM  
  
He smirked as he looked at the person that was slung over his shoulder. He felt giddily all over again and looked over his shoulder. He stopped for a while and peered down at the building at a certain dirty-blonde-haired rookie.   
  
The silhouette merely raised an eyebrow when he saw something shiny in the rookie's hand. He used his binoculars to take a good look.   
"Heh! Sometimes I wonder what you're made of, officer" the anonymous man commented and grinned evilly hen he noticed the fearful looks on the rookie's supposed victims' faces.   
  
"Getting evil, already?" he chuckled darkly when the rookie licked the knife like one crazed knife lover. The giddiness in his stomach was making him happy.   
  
He was HAPPY.   
  
Tonight's the night. He ruled over the night.   
  
He just couldn't wait to kill this victim and the other, 'beautifully'.   
Heh! The current rookie was too clueless to even imagine how beautiful his death might be.   
  
The guy smirked and turned around to continue his 'quest'.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
13:45 PM  
  
Yugi put the four anonymous thugs at the back of his car. He noticed Shizuka was currently talking to Ishizu... about things that were rather left unsaid. He also noticed that inspector Kaiba was staring at an alley for no reason (probably) and his partner, agent Ishtar, didn't look so healthy.   
  
He wondered if it was because of that Mariku... why didn't Malik let him take Mariku along to the station? Then surely he would have been saved from his misfortune of having Mariku behind his back.  
But Yugi guessed that maybe because Malik was afraid that Mariku might do something to him on the way to station 6. Must be some sort of Ishtar responsibility to take care of stuff they're scared of, Yugi mused.  
  
He stepped towards agent Yuuki and smiled. Before he could utter a greeting or anything, the other launched himself onto him. Yugi let out a squeak of surprise with his widened eyes.   
  
Yami embraced him as if he'd not seen the shorter officer in a long time.   
Yugi could feel how disturbed the other officer felt and automatically encircled the other in an embrace. He patted the other lightly on his back and could faintly feel Yami breathing into his hair.  
  
"Are you okay, Yami?" He asked worriedly. Yami groaned lowly, but then nodded vaguely. "Yeah. Boy, do I have a lot to tell, aibou" Yami smirked in the other's hair and felt relief wash over him, condemning his previous depressed mood.   
  
*.*.*.*.* End chapter 9*.*.*.*.*  
  
**Endnotes:  
**  
1: ^^;; I had Farfarello in mind when this thing popped out. *laughs nervously* OoC  
2: Being an overprotective brother/sister always seem to make you forget the fact that dear little brother/dear little sister will some day grow up. It happens.  
3: Went to check his name. ^^;; I misspelled it throughout the previous chapters. Sorry.  
  
I was going to post this sooner, but heck... got too embarrassed with the middle section >_>;; Ehehehe... So... that's why I've posted 2 chapters just to save my arse. lol. ^^;; Sorry for not posting this earlier. Even if the chapters were already in my notebook up to chapter 14... I think I got lazy in typing this all out. I mean if I don't type I've plenty of time to read most of the fanfiction I've found. ^///^ As much I enjoy writing fanfiction/originals I also enjoy reading others' works. -_-; And I still feel downhearted. *sighs*  
And also I had planned to post most of my chapters/stories on Christmas like some sort of surprise. *sighs* ;_; I COULDN'T. I couldn't connect!!! *wails*   
Oh, by the way if one of you don't know what the chapter means. It's just a literal translation of "Claws of Death". The previous meant "Eyes of Death"  
  
**In reply to:  
  
Ayako Kadori:** ^///^ Although I think that chapter was a bit... weird(?) Don't you think? Thank you for reviewing ^-^.   
  
**Jou-pup:** Ehehehe ^^;;. The reasons are in our email.   
HEY! How is it going with the scanlations of "Yami no Matsuei"? ^-^ I know the English is a bit scrambled, but at least somehow you can sort of read through the bad grammar. You can ask me anything regarding the books since I've read up till book 5 already.  
Thank you for being around. Thank you for reviewing ^_^. Thank you for replying my email.   
  
**Ezra: ** *twiddles* Uhm... ^///^ That part was a bit weird to end, I know. But I ran out of notepapers (For "Haima" I use about 13 pages, no wonder it's just 8 --> 9 pages in the computer). So I decided to stop there. Ehehehe... some of the stuff are a bit altered from the actual notes. I guess it's for the best... ^^. Thank you for reviewing.   
  
**Angel-Belle: **Ehehehehe... just what I've said in reply to Ezra's review. Ran out of notepapers ^^;; I guess you could say I'm trying out cliffhangers. >_>;; They're not even that great either. But thanks for reviewing ^-^.  
  
**Misura:** ^///^ Thank you. Hehehehe I guess Otogi can be described as someone like that. 9_9 Even though I don't really feel something touchy-feely with him other than the other characters. (I usually feel touchy-feely with most anime characters of certain series) Sorry to burst your bubble. Just ran out of notepaper. ^_^;; As for the "Death" card. I've a Tarot guide somewhere between my other books. Just bought that book out of curiosity. "Death" is some sort of card that means something is 'reborn'. Uhh... I hope I've used the right term to describe it briefly.  
Anyways thank you for reviewing ^-^.  
  
=^_^=cin


	11. Chapter 10: Embedded with

**Title:** Haima  
**Author:** Nekocin  
**Email: **Neko_cin_6@hotmail.com  
**Genres:** Various---> Action and Romance as main genres (I hope Romance wouldn't be so screwed up >.>).  
**Type:** AU   
**Anime: **Yu-gi-oh   
**Warnings: ** Shounen-ai, Violence. Maybe some OOC. In this chapter OOC  
**Pairings: ** Seto+Jou... slight Yami+Yugi hint (^^;; The pairing just came out without me noticing it until it's too late to change most of the storyline)  
**Rated:** PG-13  
**Disclaimer:** Anime in question doesn't belong to me. Never was. Never will.   
**Author's notes: **  
See chapter 9. I just posted this along with the other just to save me from embarrassing myself further. ^^;;  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
**Chapter 10: Embedded with...  
**  
14:00 PM   
  
Ryou ran his fingers through his white hair to keep it from sticking out everywhere. He straightened his long white coat and put on a pair of glasses. Ryou looked satisfied at his reflection and plastered his famous polite smile.   
  
"Dr. Shiori is ready" he whispered against his collar and headed out of the lavatory.   
  
"It took you THIS long to change?!" agent Haku chided irritatingly through his headset. He was sitting behind a laptop and searched for Dr. Shiori's position on the computerized map of the hospital.   
  
Both he and agent Bakura were working on some under cover case. Ryou got to do some undercover stuff since he most likely had the soft looks most doctors wore whenever they were handling their patients.  
  
Ryou kept his mouth shut when he heard that comment. Agent Haku always had something to comment about when they were doing this kind of work. Ryou counted to ten in his head, trying not to get angry. He'd learned the hard way not to speak back whenever his partner chided him.   
  
"Our subject is in room #498, right?" Ryou walked confidently down the halls and smiled when the nurses passed him.   
  
Agent Haku smirked and watched as something white caught his attention. "I see you did your homework, Ryou-CHAN"  
  
Dr. Shiori flinched visibly. Bakura always used it to mock him; sometimes it could pull his attention away from his target, temporarily. He hated it and clenched his fists to focus on his target.   
  
Agent Haku just wanted to put him into trouble, Ryou told himself. There was no way he would jeopardize his current position and thus strode firmly towards his destination.   
  
He knocked politely on room #498 and reached for the doorknob.   
  
"Mr. Sakurada, good afternoon" Dr. Shiori greeted and went into the room.   
  
Ocean blue eyes blinked dazedly at the new doctor. "When can I go home, sensei?"  
the man asked sadly.   
Big sad eyebrows emphasized his dull blue eyes perfectly. His brown hair was tousled during his sleep and the hospital gown looked a bit wrinkled. His face looked dried up. The skin was practically sticking on the bones like paint on the walls. The patient looked horrible. He must be starving.  
  
Dr. Shiori looked briefly at the patient's report.   
  
- PATIENT: Sakurada Shigure.  
- AGE: 45  
- SEX: M  
- DOB: 19XX October 3rd  
- ILLNESS: Brain damage? - - - [1]  
  
Ryou immediately took pity and put down the report.   
  
"I'm sorry, you've to stay here for a few more days" Dr. Shiori told the patient gently and checked the patient's medicines on the small table next to the patient's bed. Maybe the doctors might have put the wrong medicines here and there...  
  
"I can't stay here, sensei" patient Sakurada whimpered and quickly gripped onto Dr. Shiori's coat. He pulled the doctor closer to his face and started to wail miserably. "PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! I CAN'T STAND THIS MUCH LONGER, SENSEI!!"  
  
Dr. Shiori's eyes went wide as he stared closely at the sad blue eyes. He immediately gasped.   
  
"Ryou? Ryou?! Do you hear me? RYOU?!" [2]  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
15:30 PM  
  
Katsuya jumped over the dirty walls and looked up at the buildings. He had this feeling someone was watching him from either one of the buildings.   
He was panting heavily for having run through the dirty alleys. His instinct just pointed out the direction where Otogi might have been or in this case... where the kidnapper might have taken Otogi.  
  
He knew Otogi was somehow connected to the murder case. No matter how superstitious Otogi might be he DID have a bad omen after all.   
  
Katsuya wondered vaguely if the roses were some sort of clue. All sorts of thoughts inflicted his mind... and his heart was racing, he noticed. He felt fear. Ice cold fear for what might happen. The rookie had no idea what to do if he did find the killer or kidnapper with Otogi.   
  
So he let himself through the dark alleys.  
  
Something was dropped on top of his head and he automatically looked up. "What the?"  
  
Katsuya caught sight of a silhouette jumping one building over the other with some help of a rope. Another something dropped down, but landed near the rookie's feet.   
  
Dices.  
  
Two dices had fallen down. Something clicked in his mind.  
  
"Ryuuji!" He grabbed for the fire escape and ran up the stairs of one of the buildings [3]. He remembered seeing Otogi fighting the bank robbers with dices that morning... or at least that's what Otogi was trying to hide when he used the gummy stick.  
  
As soon as he got on top of the roof, he bended over to catch his breath. He couldn't remember when he'd run that much as that day. So he was left breathing heavily through his mouth.   
He could hear his heart hammering against his chest, worsening his headache for no reason perhaps.  
  
As he slowly looked up, he could faintly see someone jumping off the roof of a building, which was five buildings away, with something slung over his shoulder.   
  
"Dammit! How could this be happening?" Officer Jounouchi muttered under his breath and ran over the other side of the roof. He stopped near the railing and checked the height from the roof to the ground. Instantly the rookie gulped. He was too high up there.  
  
"The f****** bastard must have been a monkey or a flying squirrel in his previous life!"   
  
Officer Jounouchi gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. He could do this! It was no big deal. He would cross the distance of one building to the other with the help of a rope and his jacket.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
16:00 PM   
  
The man looked over his shoulder, assuming that he'd felt being followed.   
  
He was right!  
That officer was following him.  
The rookie had somehow found out where he was heading.   
  
He wondered briefly if he was being too obvious about the abduction. A grin grazed his lips.  
  
"You've figured it out so easily?" He wondered out loud and stopped abruptly. Instantly he noticed how exhausting it was to carry a grown-up over one shoulder especially while running on the flat roofs of apartment buildings. Maybe he had too much in mind...  
  
Being human himself, he was breathing heavily and quickly jumped out of sight.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
16:05 PM  
  
Sweat was trickling down his forehead as his breathing became ragged. It could've been much easier without the trench coat, the inspector noted and climbed over another wall. He jumped down to the other side and grimaced at the grease he felt on his hands.  
  
  
"How filthy can this area be?" he muttered and looked down on the ground. As expected he found some footprints. The inspector furrowed his eyebrows and squatted down to inspect the prints more closely.   
Satisfaction seemed to flash past his eyes and the inspector stood up again.   
  
Watching over a rookie was really a hindrance, especially when said rookie was leaping before looking out first. And also when the said rookie could be a smart ass occasionally, the inspector added mentally. He would never really say that out loud, not in front of the said person anyways. It would be like cheering for some stranger who might be an idiot after all.  
  
The inspector followed the footprints and suddenly stopped.   
  
Where did the rest of the footprints go?  
  
"Just great! He'd disappeared into thin air too?" inspector Kaiba said sarcastically and looked around, wondering in which alley he was intruding. A gang could've captured the rookie, because of his uniform. But seeing there were no other fresh footprints, the rookie hadn't been captured then.  
  
The fire escape caught his attention. He looked closer at the steps. From the occasional sticking dirt, inspector Kaiba touched the steps cautiously. He felt for the sticking dirt and smeared his fingers of that hand together just to be sure that the dirt could be useful. A few touching here and there had confirmed the inspector's assumption. The rookie was up there.   
The dirt was still a bit cold and a bit watery. It must have been dirt from the alley.  
  
He frowned and looked up at the building. The inspector wiped his fingers clean against his coat and climbed the stairs. The rookie could be in anyone's apartment!  
Surely the rookie wouldn't be so stupid to go into someone's apartment without going through the front door first, right?  
  
He shook his head, scratching that option. The rookie must be on the roof.  
  
The cold wind brushed past his coat, occasionally giving him some fresh air for the long climb on the stairs. His legs were hurting from the extra exercise. Especially when it had been a long time since he'd to chase someone on foot. Usually he chases his assumed victims in his car.   
  
Speaking of chasing someone... where's the BRAT?!  
  
He looked around the roof.   
  
The rookie wasn't present only a few foot prints and a dice near the roof's railing of the other side.   
The inspector's eyes widened slightly as he followed the footprints with his eyes again.   
  
Something or rather someone was sliding from one building to the other with some help of a single rope and his uniform jacket.   
  
"What the?" came out of the inspector's mouth. The trick was to use the cloth as some security for not needing to burn one's hands once he slid towards the other building through the rope.  
  
He instantly ran closer to the roof's railing and narrowed his eyes to get a better look.  
  
"The F***! I swear this rookie is going to make sure I'll get white hair!" Inspector Kaiba snarled and took of his coat while heading for the rope that connected the two buildings in one thin line.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
16:30 PM  
  
Yami came out of the hearing room and smirked. Agent Mutou, agent Ishtar and Shizuka had been waiting for him outside the hearing room. Ishizu had been driven home a few minutes ago.   
  
The smirk had definitely answered their first question: did they tell him?  
  
""They'd affirmed their promise" Yami commented and coolly leaned against the left wall.   
  
"So what's the story?" Yugi asked curiously.   
  
"They were ordered to abduct the younger Kaiba and then send the teenager into an unsuspicious car accident. They wanted to see Kaiba break and crumble into dust. It seemed this had something to do with the Kaiba Corp's rivalry with other upcoming Corporations. I guess Kaiba was hanging a bit too long in the police business that he hadn't noticed their existence" Yami explained as he regarded each of his little audience.   
  
Their faces lit up after hearing the brief summary coming from Yami. Everything seemed to make sense....  
  
"But whom were they referring as 'the freak of an officer'?" Shizuka furrowed her eyebrows, trying to imagine all the recent officers she'd met who might fit the freakish nature.   
  
"Yeah... I don't think they were referring to you, right? Then who...?" Yugi gave his previous partner a confused look.   
  
It could somehow also be counted as one of the cutest expressions and yet it wasn't supposed to be called 'cute', Yami mused.  
Agent Ishtar gave him a small smile; he sort of had an idea who this 'freak of an officer' really was.   
  
Yami just chuckled and sighed.   
"I really couldn't believe it at first, but Jounouchi-san was the one who gave them a scare"  
  
"Onii-chan isn't a freak!" Shizuka immediately defended.   
  
"We know, we know... it's just that... they mentioned Jounouchi-san licking a knife like eating ice cream" Yami explained uncomfortably as he restrained his face from flashing a big, amused smile. It might have given the younger Jounouchi the wrong intentions. Who knows what she might do just to defend her brother's honour.   
  
"Knife? it's just a blunt butter knife. Couldn't they tell?" Shizuka wondered incredulously and giggled afterwards.   
  
"It's blunt?" came the expected question. The younger Jounouchi sighed and smiled dazedly as if remembering something.   
  
"Onii-chan always keeps a knife close. Okaa-san was too proud to take care of him, you know. He was still ten when he got into the habit of keeping a knife close by. When he had to live alone there seemed to be a lot of crimes happening around him. The results were that onii-chan had been involved in a lot of fights instead of studying properly in the afternoons. Using a blunt knife was only to scare off his opponents. It wasn't supposedly used to hurt since onii-chan had no desire of creating a blood bath in the alleys... besides it was sort of onii-chan's only tool to feel secured instead of guns and blades" Shizuka explained softly and smiled to herself.  
She felt proud of her brother. He was strong indeed.  
  
The other three officers watched the younger Jounouchi's expressions. It was like watching a drama without a hero. They definitely noticed how much Shizuka adores her brother. The rookie must have been some great big brother with great examples, they noted.  
  
"What about that Mariku?" agent Mutou suddenly snapped everyone out of their dazes. He looked up at agent Yuuki.   
  
"He just smirks in my face and tell me nothing useful at all. I guess I'm more willing to send you in there, Malik since he's sort of... fond of you. He gives me the nerves to choke someone's life out" Yami sighed dejectedly and instantly Malik paled.  
  
Yugi pitied his partner. What had Mariku said to him that made him this pale?   
  
"Maybe I can take your place so you can spend some time with Ishizu one-chan" Yugi offered a reassuring smile.   
  
"NO! I mean... iie, I can do it [4]. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine" Malik protested quickly and ignored the feeling of having felt his stomach drop from its original place. There was no way he should get scared of some criminal. He was supposed to be intimidating and touch too.   
  
Determination was branded on his face and agent Ishtar headed into another hearing room.  
  
"I'm agent Ishtar. Agent Yuuki had sent me...," he said automatically.  
  
The door to the hearing room was slowly closed. [5]  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
17:00 PM  
  
The sun was already setting. Its rays painted the sky orange and yellow. That morning was really a beautiful one.  
  
Katsuya grunted as he climbed over the railing just to get on the roof of the other building. He was breathing heavily and sweat was clearly trickling down his forehead. It took him a lot of energy to cross the five buildings.   
  
Doki. Doki. Doki. [7]  
  
Pain soared through his limbs as the cold wind kissed his skin teasingly. [6]   
The rookie shivered. Katsuya slid on his jacket and looked around. Where did that -someone- go?  
  
His instincts were telling him he was following a killer.  
  
How was he supposed to defend himself?  
  
He looked down on the floor and as expected, he found another missing dice. The familiar cold fear lingered over his bones. The rookie felt the fear urging his hear to hammer harder against his chest. Adrenaline rushed through his veins, pumping the fear everywhere in his body. It felt familiar...  
  
The rookie played with the dice absently as he stepped forward, cautiously. His eyes darted around, anticipating any sorts of physical attacks. A lot of questions went through his mind. One of them was "why". "Why" this and "why" that.  
  
The sky was getting a bit darker already. When the night fell the killed roamed through the city.   
  
Jounouchi just hoped he could save Otogi from an unnecessary death. It sounded pointless to kill rookies, Katsuya contemplated inwardly. It wasn't like they even had a clue who was at fault or who the killer was and such.   
Was it some sort of sweet revenge on those that had just come out of training school?  
  
SWISH!   
  
Instincts screamed at him and adrenaline started to pimp through his veins at full speed. Katsuya jumped out of the way and hid behind a container. A small thud cracked the silence of the roof and he flickered his attention to the fallen object.   
  
A small dart.  
  
Poison might have been dipped on the sharp needle... but somehow the killer didn't seem o be a person that would kill his victims immediately. it was like an insult. Although not everyone knew how a killer's mind worked. So the chances were slim.  
  
Katsuya let his eyes dart around the various positions where the killer MIGHT be hiding. He took a deep breath and stood up confidently.  
  
"SHOW YOURSELF!"   
  
A dart was immediately thrown at him.  
  
*.*.*.*.* End chapter 10*.*.*.*.*  
  
**End notes:  
**  
"(name)-sensei" or just "sensei" is commonly used when patients call the doctors and also... at school of course.  
"okaa-san" is commonly used to call one's mother affectionately.  
"onii-chan" is commonly used to call an older guy affectionately by little kids. (Not blood related brother, just some older boys the little kids like. Though I really have forgotten what the blood-related brother really is ^^;;)  
"one-chan" is commonly used to call an older girl affectionately by little kids. (Also not blood-related sister. In this case, Yugi can call Ishizu 'one-chan' since she's older and not married. Not that he's a little kid... but you get it, right? ^^;;)  
  
1: Meaning the actual doctor has no idea if the patient is really sick or crazy. I'm not sure how real life works so... I just made up something there.  
2: 9_9 I think this is fair enough to leave it to the side-fic "Aventurien". ^^;; Sorry.   
3: I sort of based this on those New York buildings. Hehehehe... ^^;;   
4: "iie" means "no". Spoken out as "i - ye". I just seem to be throwing random transliterated words here and there.   
5: Yep. That's about it for "Haima" timeline between those two. The "Turamali" timeline will pick up those two up as soon as I'm finished with both "Haima" and "Aventurien".  
6: Just straying a bit... ^^;;   
7: Sometimes "doki" is used to represent the sounds of a heartbeat. ^_^  
  
X_X See... another cliffhanger just because I ran out of notepapers again -_-;;. Still a bit straying here and there... And oh, I don't know about the scene with the dart is a good place to end. ^^;; It IS after all a bit… too much. A bit too perfect maybe.  
  
=^_^=cin


	12. Chapter 11: Night of fire

Title: Haima  
  
Author: Nekocin  
  
Email: Neko_cin_6@hotmail.com  
  
Genres: Various--- Action and Romance as main genres (I hope Romance wouldn't be so screwed up .).  
  
Type: AU   
  
Anime: Yu-gi-oh   
  
Warnings: Shounen-ai, Violence. Maybe some OOC. In this chapter a bit scene change here and there. Suspense *shrugs*. Bad description. Some distractions too _ Long notes.  
  
Pairings: Seto+Jou... in this chapter some Yami+Yugi hints.  
  
Rated: PG-13  
  
Disclaimer: Anime in question doesn't belong to me. Never was. Never will.   
  
Author's notes: The story seems to get a bit carried away x_x. The chapter title is inspired by Initial D's "Night of fire" which is performed by Niko (even though I'm not sure that this fit the chapter itself -_-;). To be honest... I've not a slightest idea how the song sounds. I just heard that this song is good, one of the great song from the anime ^^;;. The lyrics seem quite interesting though.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
bChapter 11: Night of fire/b  
  
17:00 PM  
  
Yugi looked at the door in which his partner had disappeared behind. He was worried. What if Malik was going to hyperventilate or something? Mariku seemed to be working on Malik's nerves already. His partner had grown pale twice in one day. That was something very unusual in his opinion.   
  
Yugi concentrated on the door and tried to hear any sorts of faint pieces of conversation. As expected conversations in the hearing room never traveled out of those four walls. [1] The room was soundproof.  
  
He suddenly felt a hand massaging one of his shoulders. It snapped him out of his concentration and Yugi looked up.  
  
"Just relax, aibou..." Yami reassured with a small smile. He continued massaging his previous partner's shoulder. Yugi leaned into the touch and couldn't help but wonder if agent Yuuki really missed him.   
  
He felt confusion taking over his worries.   
  
Why was Yami acting like this?  
  
Why was he still calling him 'aibou'? [2]  
  
Did he still want to be his partner?   
  
Yami noticed the confusion on the younger officer's face. At least Yugi could forget his worries about Malik's safety for a moment.   
  
Agent Yuuki smiled inwardly as he felt something warm spread out in his chest. He felt warm whenever his previous partner was thinking about him even if it was for a few minutes.  
  
Agent Yuuki silently envied agent Ishtar's luck to be paired up with the younger agent.  
  
Shizuka didn't say anything about the older agent's affectionate massages. She wondered if those two were sharing some sort of relationship that went far beyond friendship or partnership.   
  
The door to Mariku's hearing room was thrown open, startling the other three. Agent Ishtar bolted out of the room as fast as he could and without a second glance he ran.  
  
"Agent Ishtar!"   
  
Yugi snapped out of his confusion and followed his partner, missing the disappointed look on agent Yuuki's face.   
  
Yami stood frozen in one place and wondered what had happened. Noting from the horrified look on Malik's face when he came out, maybe it wasn't a good idea to let Mariku have his way. Suddenly he felt protective of his fellow-officers and turned his angry eyes at the hearing room.   
  
Since the door was open, he could definitely see the smirking Mariku leaning against the table.  
  
"What did you do?"   
  
He narrowed his eyes at the smirking Mariku. It was better to be straightforward with incidents like this.  
  
What had Mariku done to upset agent Ishtar so much?   
  
As one of the older officers he'd studied agent Ishtar from afar.   
  
There were very few things that could upset the other agent since he was considered as one of the fewer agents with patience when it came to hearing criminals out.  
  
"He's a wuss" Mariku commented and crossed his arms proudly over his chest.   
  
Yami gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. He stalked into the room and slammed the door closed.   
  
Shizuka could only stare worriedly at the empty halls. [3]  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
17:10 PM  
  
"SHOW YOURSELF!" officer Jounouchi shouted as he stepped forward. His eyes darted around for any attacks as he strained his ears to hear anything fishy.  
  
The faint car engines and honks weren't making it easier to hear the lowest noises.   
  
But the dart stood out instantly.   
  
Doki. Doki. Doki.  
  
Katsuya prayed he could catch the little thing without getting hurt.   
  
Doki. Doki. Doki.  
  
He strained his ears, he moved aside quickly and grasped onto something from mid-air.  
  
Doki. Doki. Doki.  
  
Relief washed over him when he opened his hand carefully.   
  
Doki. Doki. Doki.  
  
He'd caught the dart.  
  
The feeling of having succeeded made him proud. The rookie could faintly hear someone grumbling and frowned.   
  
Ever since he was left behind, alone in the small house... no one could save him from the dangers, which he'd to face every day. The constant dangers in his old neighbourhood made him develop his own hunting senses.  
  
Doki. Doki. Doki.  
  
Jounouchi quickly took his shoes off and tiptoed out of view. He was trying to locate the killer's hiding place and planned on taking the guy by surprise.   
  
The rookie swallowed and stealthily headed from one side to the other, carefully hiding himself behind various objects.   
  
Doki. Doki. Doki.  
  
The rookie rolled to the other side of his temporary hiding. Before he knew it, he hit someone's body. Jounouchi let out a startled gasp and looked at the body.   
  
Doki. Doki. Doki.   
  
"Ryuuji?" he whispered. "Oh God..."   
  
The officer quickly checked the unconscious officer's pulse.   
  
Doki... Doki... Doki...   
  
Good. He's still alive.  
  
Officer Jounouchi sighed in relief.  
  
There was actually something wrong about this picture, Katsuya noted slightly.   
  
Where was the kidnapper? Or the killer for that matter?  
  
It was a bit too easy to find a-still-alive Otogi there.  
  
Katsuya's spine suddenly tingled in alert when his instincts shot out warnings. Danger was ahead.  
  
Doki. Doki. Doki.  
  
Jounouchi cursed under his breath as his eyes darted around for an escape.  
  
Doki. Doki. Doki.  
  
The killer must have noticed his tactics and decided to set a trap for him.   
  
And he definitely did fell for the trap. Adrenaline rushed through his veins and he unconsciously gripped the dart tightly, hoping for reassurance. He could almost feel the killer lurking from behind him.  
  
Doki. Doki. Doki.  
  
And he froze.  
  
Doki. Doki. Doki.  
  
Doki. Doki. Doki.  
  
"At last we meet, Jounouchi Katsuya. But you're a bit TOO early for the check-up which is quite unusual in your case" an unfamiliar voice said.  
  
Yep. The killer was behind him.  
  
Doki. Doki. Doki.  
  
Doki. Doki. Doki.  
  
"Don't even think about moving away, Jounouchi-san" the person behind him warned.  
  
Noting from the clicks of some kind of expensive shoes coming nearer, the killer must be walking closer to him.  
  
Doki. Doki. Doki. Doki. Doki. Doki.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
17:15 PM  
  
He walked closer, aiming the gun at the rookie and smirked inwardly. The rookie had fallen for his trap and yet made no move to save his own life. Officer Jounouchi just kept on kneeling there, next to officer Ryuuji as if frozen in place.   
  
But he knew the rookie wasn't about to leave the other officer.   
  
It was like any officer would do if they cared a lot for society. They would try to save other people's lives even if it's through vain [4].  
  
He noted that there weren't really a lot of bold officers in the city, or rookies for that matter. However, officer Jounouchi was sort of a special case. It's a pity officer Jounouchi had to die, but at least he could have some fun.  
  
He pulled the trigger, but not really aiming at Jounouchi. Instead he aimed at Ryuuji's leg.  
  
The shot was immediate and silent.   
  
With a painful jerk, Ryuuji's eyes sprang open and cried out in pain. He was awake.  
  
The sudden action had earned a gasp from the rookie.   
  
"Since Ryuuji is the first, I might as well kill him right away" he commented with a huge grin.   
  
"What do you want from us?" Officer Jounouchi cut in, his voice was iced by the straightforwardness. The rookie stood up slowly and covered Officer Ryuuji like a standing pole.  
  
The killer smiled faintly.   
  
How selfless could this rookie be? Wouldn't his wife be left alone once the temptation has gotten to him to take officer Jounouchi's life first instead of officer Ryuuji's? [5]  
  
"Nothing. Really" the anonymous man chuckled as he aimed the gun at the rookie's head.  
  
How tempting...  
  
"Funny that you know a killer never reveals his true intentions"  
  
Very tempting...   
  
The rookie snorted.  
  
Oh yes. Very, very tempting...  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
17:20 PM  
  
Inspector Kaiba had seen the two figures in a distance already. He stealthily made his way to his final destination: THE building.   
  
Instantly he heard someone cry out in pain. The vocals sounded like that annoying officer Ryuuji.  
  
"Shit!" he cursed under his breath and quickly jumped over the railing.   
  
The inspector tried not to make any sound once he moved closer to the killer and the rookie.  
  
Dammit! The killer had his face hidden! By the shadows no less. The sun was after all behind the killer's back.  
  
The inspector frowned when he noticed the gun was pointed at the rookie from station 6.  
  
Noting from the critical scene, the inspector acted immediately without any second thoughts.  
  
He ran!  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
17:24 PM  
  
Doki. Doki. Doki.  
  
Katsuya gripped the dart tightly and looked determinedly at the wounded officer, Otogi. Officer Ryuuji, on the other hand, was whimpering because of his injured leg. So he didn't seem to understand that look of the rookie. He gave Katsuya a strained, but grateful look and silently bald his fists.   
  
Doki. Doki. Doki.  
  
Doki. Doki. Doki.  
  
The minutes were ticking away... the minutes of the final blow.   
  
Doki. Doki. Doki.  
  
Doki. Doki. Doki.  
  
He couldn't see where the gun was pointed and gripped the dart tighter. Officer Jounouchi knew this action might kill him immediately. Thus due to the fact he had no intentions of dying this early... he prayed.  
  
Doki. Doki. Doki.  
  
Katsuya took a few deep breaths quickly and whirled around. Somewhere in the back of his mind he heard a gunshot, but dismissed the fact that it might hit him somewhere critically.  
  
Doki. Doki. Doki.  
  
Jounouchi wanted to throw the dart...  
  
Suddenly out of nowhere someone's body covered his view and the dart was never flung to its target.   
  
Doki. Doki. Doki.  
  
Katsuya let out a startled gasp when someone wrapped him in a protective embrace.   
  
Doki. Doki. Doki.  
  
His eyes went wide when his saviour's body jerked and then collapsed on top of him. Katsuya heard a faint grunt.   
  
The compact on the sudden weight had sent them sprawled over the floor. Katsuya was thoroughly flustered when the body on top of him was cutting off his oxygen supply.   
  
"Jounouchi-san!" Otogi managed to shout out and with his last strength he grabbed for the last few dices in his pocket. Since the killer was scowling because a certain someone had interfered in his game, Otogi got the opportunity to hit the killer. As experienced as Otogi could be with throwing dices, the speed had already been planned out. He flung his dices immediately. "Bull's-eye!" Otogi cheered.  
  
"AH! Stupid boy!" the killer snarled. He didn't seem to be happy with two interruptions: 1) from killing the rookie named Jounouchi and 2) from being targeted non-detectibly with... dices.  
  
The unexpected pain shot through his arm.   
  
"Fuck!" the anonymous man let out a yelp and looked at the offended place. There was a dart sticking out of his arm. He looked up surprised at the thrower.   
  
Katsuya smirked from his position; leaning on his elbows while someone else's body covered him limply. It might have been a mistake that the rookie was saved from getting hit by a bullet. Officer Jounouchi was definitely not someone to whom he'd expected to lose this easily.   
  
Officer Jounouchi's triumphant smirk turned into a frown instantly. He narrowed his eyes.   
  
"Did you think I like your joke? Why are you doing this?"  
  
The anonymous man just chuckled and immediately ran.   
  
"Wait for me, young one!" he called out, over his shoulder.  
  
"Hey! Come back here!"   
  
Katsuya struggled to get the heavy body off him and ran after the killer.   
  
Before he knew it the man jumped off the building.  
  
Katsuya stared horrified at the figure descending from the building.   
  
Doki. Doki. Doki.  
  
"You stupid jerk!" he yelled indignantly and watched the figure unceremoniously land in a container.  
  
He had to catch the guy!  
  
Katsuya swallowed his fear and climbed over the railing, carefully holding the railing tight.   
  
Doki. Doki. Doki...  
  
"JOUNOUCHI-SAN! CALL AN AMBULANCE!!!" Otogi yelled out immediately.   
  
The rookie froze mid-way and wondered how critical their situation was.   
  
Who was his human barrier anyways?  
  
He furrowed his brows and tried to decide where to go first: after the killer or look if those two were all right.   
  
Doki. Doki. Doki.  
  
His heart was making it even harder to choose. It was hammering in panick against his chest. He wanted to and yet could not...   
  
Doki. Doki. Doki.  
  
ARGH! WHICH WAY?  
  
Katsuya growled and quickly jumped back on the roof.   
  
"We'll deal with you later" he muttered over his shoulder and then ran towards his other companions. He wanted to know who'd taken his bullet.  
  
Otogi had crept painfully towards the fallen man and checked his pulse.  
  
Doki... Doki... Doki...  
  
"I-inspector?" Katsuya gasped out as soon as he saw the familiar coat. How could he be so stupid?! The only one who's about a few heads taller than him was the inspector of course. No wonder he could only see the chest...  
  
The inspector gave the rookie a strained look. He was trying to glare, the rookie suddenly noted. Jounouchi smiled sadly. The inspector's face had paled, only colored by a thin line of blood that was trickling down the corner of his mouth. The inspector suddenly didn't look so tough or intimidating like last week...  
  
"What are you looking at?! Call the ambulance, Jounouchi!! He's losing a lot of blood!!" Otogi's voice was thickened with panic and hysteric. His wound in his leg must be treated too. Shit. He couldn't feel his leg.  
  
Katsuya panicked immediately.   
  
He didn't even have a cell phone with him!!  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
18:05 PM  
  
"ONII-CHAN!" two voices called out as soon as the owners spotted someone familiar sitting exhaustingly in a chair.   
  
Even though only one of them was referring patient, the rookie looked up. He had a bandaged nose that became the most out-of-place part of the normal picture of a plain officer.   
  
Shizuka and Mokuba had come running down the halls, both looking so distraught.  
  
"SHHH!" a passing nurse chided them.  
  
Shizuka threw herself into her brother's arms and let out a sigh of relief once she felt him embracing her back. "I'm glad you're all right, onii-chan"  
  
"Shizuka..." he smiled reassuringly. His eyes landed on the younger Kaiba. He looked so worried.  
  
"The doctors are doing a surgery on his back," he told Mokuba before the teenager could open his mouth.   
  
Katsuya felt a sudden guilt wash over him. Because of him someone else got hurt.   
  
Maybe he shouldn't have interfered with Otogi's abduction, but then again that's not a good option. No matter how annoying Otogi might be, Katsuya couldn't find it in his heart to let the guy die so foolishly.   
  
And still... someone got hurt because of him.   
  
Mokuba's face was scrunched into a deeper frown.   
  
Jounouchi could tell the younger one was quite worried. He gently pushed Shizuka aside.   
  
"Just hope that your brother's going to make it" he whispered and slowly pulled the other in an embrace.   
  
It felt awkward to feel someone else's body this close instead of someone familiar like his sister. After so many years of living alone in dangerous alleys he'd never liked feeling someone else's body brush closely. He wasn't the touchy type although for Shizuka it's an exception.   
  
He remembered how alarmed he'd felt as soon as the inspector had embraced him protectively. Even though the contact was for merely for protection, it unnerved him immensely. He'd wanted to kick the guy a few feet away if it hadn't been for the bullet, which went through the inspector's body.   
  
For now he did allow the teenager in his arms, seeing that Mokuba might want to break down instantly.   
  
The younger Kaiba didn't seem to mind human touch and automatically wrapped his arms around the officer.   
  
Besides, the officer DID save him that afternoon. Why not trust him for again? He seemed to be a big brother too, to that girl for that matter.  
  
"Onii-chan's going to be okay" Mokuba murmured into Katsuya's shirt.   
  
Shizuka sat next to her brother and leaned her head on her brother's shoulder. It was the shock that made her worry this much, when she'd heard Katsuya was in hospital. The result was... she felt tired.  
  
Jounouchi used his other arm to hold his younger sister close. For the moment there he flushed embarrassedly when the nurses looked at him curiously. He felt like a pillow and a cuddling plushy.  
  
The human touch made him slightly nervous as he looked at the white walls of the hospital. None of the three spoke to one another after Mokuba's hopeful statement. As the daily hospital routine took place, it made them aware how silent they were.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
In a dark room, the patient was sleeping soundlessly in the middle of the beeping sounds coming from the heart monitor.   
  
His fingers stirred slightly and tightened on someone else's hand. How he knew, was merely a surprise.  
  
A gasp escaped someone's lips.  
  
"I-inspector..."  
  
*.*.*.*.* End chapter 11*.*.*.*.*  
  
End notes:  
  
1: I really have no idea how to call that room. ^^;; Hehehehe... my lack of knowledge -_-'.  
  
2: It actually means "partner".  
  
3: Ahem. Yep. I'll leave most of the necessary explanation of this scene in either "Turamali" or "Fluere" (they're Mariku+Malik-centered and Yami+Yugi-centered stories respectively)  
  
4: I'm neutral when it comes to the police stuff. If anyone disagrees with this, just relax. I'm not basing the story on certain police-like facts. *shrugs* I don't have to say if I agree or disagree with police sacrificing themselves and such. But it really doesn't matter here anyways. Just a point of view.  
  
5: The guy doesn't know that Jounouchi is single. -_-   
  
*twitches* O_O I really did spoil the action and the real identity of the killer, right?  
  
=^_^=cin 


	13. Chapter 12: Guilty as in

**Title:** Haima  
**Author: ** Nekocin  
**Email:** Neko_cin_6@hotmail.com  
**Genres:** Various  
**Type: ** AU   
**Anime:** Yu-gi-oh   
**Warnings:** Shounen-ai, Violence. Maybe some OOC. In this chapter little violence, angst/drama, almost indirect NCS, bad description, shifting of Jounouchi Katsuya's name.  
**Pairings: ** Seto+Jou... here, none.  
**Rated: ** PG-13 -- R  
**Disclaimer:** Anime in question doesn't belong to me. Never was. Never will.   
**Author's notes: ** I'm sorry for not updating sooner. I was so into a new anime, had my eyes on anime songs and was also struggling with chapter 16. *sighs* ^_^ I hope this is an okay chapter... plausible maybe? ^_^ And be glad that this story will end soon around chap 17 or something. So... we'll get to fry that psycho soon. *brands her weapons* 9_9 This story has too many hints that drive me crazy @_@ ARGH!!! Maybe I'll write a side-fic on this pairing where they're properly so... *zips* 9_9...hmm?. What do you all think? Me writing a blatantly Seto/Jou story.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
**Chapter 12: Guilty as in...   
**  
The hand slowly loosened its grip and let go. The other hand retreated, shakily, from the hold and the owner sighed in relief.  
  
"How is your back, sir?" the silhouette in the room asked softly as he looked over at the patient.   
  
The inspector hadn't opened his eyes yet and still... it was a wonder how quickly he could regain his senses.  
The voice that had asked the question sounded so unfamiliar and yet familiar.   
He couldn't really pinpoint to whom the voice it belonged to. Then a shock coursed through his body.   
  
Had he lost his memory?   
  
His eyes flew open immediately.  
  
Katsuya had almost jumped back when the inspector's eyes has opened instantly. It was like a sudden reflex to distance himself from the very odd inspector (or maybe the mysterious inspector was more appropriate?)  
  
Those fiery blue eyes were studying his face in the dark and suddenly...  
  
He felt uncomfortable. The itching feeling in his arms and legs made it clear that he wanted to leave the hospital as soon as possible. The smells in the room were faintly aggravating his senses.   
  
THOSE eyes weren't making it any better.   
He felt trapped.  
  
Still, he noted to himself, maybe it's from the guilt. Maybe it's the guilt that prevented him from really running away.   
No one had really protected him during his childhood so why now?  
What made it impossible or unbelievable was that someone so distant and aloof like the inspector had done it anyways.   
  
Inspector... Katsuya could feel something dangling at the back of his mind.   
Inspector... no wonder. The rookie slumped and squished the last flittering hope. Of course, why hadn't he thought about it at first?  
  
The inspector was merely doing his job. What made him think that maybe... just maybe the inspector had taken the bullet because... what the hell is he thinking?  
  
He shook his head to clear his mind.  
  
The guilt was definitely getting the better of him. For the first time the rookie didn't know what to say just to ease his guilt by telling the inspector himself. Somehow the words had stuck at the back of his throat.   
  
And why is he looking at the tiled floor instead of the patient?  
  
The room was getting uncomfortable suddenly. He'd to make an excuse... ANYTHING!!  
  
"Mokuba..." Katsuya murmured absently and quickly turned around.  
  
"Mokuba... he's been worried about you. I'll wake him up and tell him you're awake" The rookie explained quickly.  
  
His brown eyes darted around not daring to look at the vulnerable patient, as he tensed his shoulders. He hoped that excuse sounded okay.   
Hearing nothing coming out of the inspector's mouth, he left the room quickly. His last thought was calling himself a coward!  
  
The inspector was left alone in that dark room. He blinked in confusion at first, but quickly regained his focus. Still... he wondered why the rookie had run away from him.   
Did he do something wrong? It bothered him a bit why the rookie was acting like a...  
  
... Mokuba. He sighed. Yes, he should think about his brother.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Jounouchi was leaning against the door which lead to the Inspector's room. He'd closed his eyes to block out any images that might distract him. His thoughts were jumbled and his chest... his chest felt heavy.   
  
He should face it: the inspector was lying behind that door in that room because of him.   
  
Katsuya sighed and sagged his shoulders. He would make it up to the inspector... someday.  
  
"Kaiba-san, your brother is awake" Jounouchi murmured and shook the sleeping teenager gently. Mokuba had fallen asleep a few minutes after he'd arrived at the hospital. He must've been very worried about his big brother, Katsuya mused and tentatively stroked the younger Kaiba's hair.   
  
Mokuba groaned and his eyes fluttered open.   
"How is onii-chan?" he murmured sleepily and tried to wipe the sleep from his eyes.   
  
The officer smiled faintly. "He's awake. You can go see him"  
  
Cute kid, Katsuya noted and watched as those violet eyes brightened. Even though that kid wasn't really a kid anymore, he reminded himself.  
  
"Thank you for watching over him, officer Jounouchi"   
Mokuba stood up from the bench which he'd been occupying and headed into the inspector's room.   
  
Katsuya sighed again and sat down on the bench. The younger Kaiba would be upset once he found out why his brother was at the hospital in the first place!  
  
"It's not your fault. onii-chan" that voice had startled him. His head shot up immediately. Shizuka was standing in front of him, wearing a sad look on her face.  
  
"Shizuka..." He found himself looking at her brown eyes [1]. Even if both of them have the same eyes, it's a fact that Shizuka has the most gorgeous ones. Because hers were innocent.  
  
His sister shook her head and rested her hands on both his shoulders. "It's not your fault, onii-chan" she repeated confidently, more gently than before. "You were unaware of his presence and the target"   
  
His chest ached.   
  
"But I could've prevented anyone from getting hurt..." Jounouchi whispered brokenly and dropped his gaze.   
He didn't want his sister to see how guilty his eyes looked.   
So broken. So tainted. So... disgusting.  
Their shades were getting hauntingly darker and darker by the minute.  
  
"Stop acting like someone who can save the whole world, onii-chan!" Shizuka chided her brother and shook his shoulders a bit desperately. "Don't mope around about petty stuff. I'm sure the inspector was just doing his job"  
  
That last comment made the rookie sulk more. He just didn't know why. Was it because he felt something coming from the inspector? Something superior? And idol? Someone to whom he felt responsible for?   
  
Strange... wasn't agent Yuuki supposed to be responsible for him? Maybe it was just because of himself?   
  
Him and his mirror... or curse.  
  
_*~*~* Flashback START~*~*~   
  
That night he'd realized how cruel the world was. The cold night air was biting his as the silence in the alleys filled the tension. While everyone was crawling into their warm, comfortable beds save for those who worked late and the occasional homeless ones. He was running-...  
  
A silhouette jumped down from the greasy wall. His ragged breathing and stumbling footsteps broke the silence. Warm tears rolled down his cheeks. He felt alone.   
  
The wind slammed across his terrified, pale face. Young as he may seem, he was indefinitely mature for his own age-...  
  
"You can't run from us, little Jou" he faintly heard someone call out from behind him.   
  
His breath caught up in his throat as he blindly ran through the shadowed alleys. It was too dark to see.  
He felt his face getting drained from its usual warmth.   
  
Why was there no one around?   
  
THEY were still following him, chasing him like a cat and a mouse game. He mustn't stop or else something bad might happen as a result for being alone in this Godforsaken world.   
  
His chest was burning painfully as he blistered his once-soft fingers against the walls of his next obstacle: the wall.   
Loud clanging and thudding could be heard from behind him. They were still behind him.  
  
Why were they chasing him? He didn't know. But he felt they might want to do something BAD.  
  
His short legs couldn't take it much more. The young boy knew his body was exhausted but he mustn't give up.   
  
Why was there no one protecting him?  
  
He was just a child-...   
  
THUD.  
  
He'd climbed over another wall. The young boy scrambled back on his feet and continued running.   
  
Mother! Father!, he cried out mentally. He felt alone-... his throat was too dry to even make a legible sound. His vision got blurred momentarily. Everything was dancing in front of him.  
  
"GOTCHA!"   
  
Suddenly a big, strong hand shot out of nowhere and caught the young boy's shoulder. It seemed his pursuers had split up, trapping him in a state where fear and loneliness had only assaulted his senses.  
  
The young Jounouchi let out a startled gasp and stared wide-eyed at his captor. The guy was a stranger. He didn't know the guy's face. His fear grew ten fold.  
  
And his captor was grinning.  
  
More footsteps approached them.   
"Did you think we can let you go that easily?"   
  
"Finally!" A new voice huffed nearby. The other pursuer had arrived. "We've finally caught the brat!"   
  
Jounouchi's lips trembled and let out an unwanted whimper. His eyes were wide and getting watery.  
He was scared. What did they want to do with him?  
  
"P-please... please let me go..."  
  
Evil chuckles reached his ears. His brown eyes widen even more when he found himself cornered. They were touching him! They were bruising his arms...   
Why were they doing this?   
His petite body trembled uncontrollably. Why were they after him? Was father part of this?   
  
He started crying.  
  
Please let this be a nightmare. Please let this be a nightmare!  
  
Out of nowhere something cold ran down his spine.   
He watched as the older guy's mouth began to move. But he couldn't hear the message which was coming of that guy's mouth.   
  
His mind was elsewhere. He felt paralyzed.   
Shizuka!!!!!!!   
  
//Do you want to die?// The cold night wind brushed past him and whispered suddenly in his ear_ or so he thought_. Jounouchi looked startled as his body stopped trembling.   
  
His captors were talking to him... touching him... sneering...  
  
//Do you want to die?//   
  
"NO!!!!!!" Jounouchi cried out. He didn't want to die!   
He kicked his captors immediately in the shin.   
  
Death was way too close to getting him. Like any other kid, who didn't understand life's games he was scared of dying. Dying in the unknown. What would Shizuka do without him?  
  
With his short nails he clawed at the other's faces.   
  
"OW! DAMN LITTLE PIPSQUEAK!!" they cursed.   
  
With desperate actions the young boy tried to do as much damage as he could on his captors. The young boy wrestled himself loose and kicked on of his anonymous captors.  
  
"HELP!!!" he cried out childishly... then everything disappeared. Everywhere went black.  
  
And that's how everything had started.  
  
-- X --  
  
A few years later -   
  
14th-year-old Jounouchi growled impatiently at the gang in front of him. That day he was cornered _again by another street gang. They were all the same, looking tough and dirty at the same time. Their intentions: they just wanted Jounouchi in their group.  
  
"Haven't you guys had enough?! I'm not in the mood right now!" Katsuya shouted. His body switched into a defensive mode instinctively. It was like a routine to him. Ever since he'd worked as a news paper delivery boy, he would get confronted by gangs.   
  
Throughout the last to years he'd accomplished his own style of street fighting just to survive the many negative 'creatures' in those bad alleys like alcoholics, drugs gangs, street gangs etcetera. He got into fights often, but always seemed to end them with just a few minor bruises. Either it was his luck or his fighting by experience, he could take them DOWN!   
That's why street gangs were all after him, persuading him into becoming a part of their world.   
  
Jounouchi felt disgusted by their stubbornness. Being part of a gang would be like having an every day blood bath in the alleys. A quarrel which could lead to Death.   
He didn't wish to die so soon: Shizuka needed him!  
  
The 14th-year-old hadn't planned on staining his hands with human blood.   
  
"Oh, we just love ya to pieces, Jounouchi-kun~" One of them sneered and leaned closer to Katsuya's face.  
  
"Che" Katsuya glared; he unconsciously stepped back and grabbed protectively for the remaining undelivered newspapers in his bag.  
  
"I ask you again, Jounouchi-kun-"   
  
"And I answer it again. No!" Katsuya quickly cut in, annoyance edged his facial features sharply. He had to get to work. It was the only way to earn some money.   
  
He was immediately seized by the arms. Jounouchi grunted in surprise...  
A fist was connected to his stomach and the air was punched out of his lungs.   
His eyes widened in near breathlessness. It felt as if everything was bursting out of his nose, pressuring his head that nearly blinded him from the sheer loss of oxygen.  
  
He gritted his teeth. "Ugh!" And doubled over.  
  
His stomach felt burned. Somehow he felt something rushing through his throat as if throwing up. A warm, metallic taste reached his mouth from his throat and he coughed. He coughed out the red liquid.  
  
His mind panicked immediately. Not again!!  
  
"You aren't such a tough kid like we've heard about, are you?" one of the gang members taunted.  
  
The helpless teenager glared.  
"Let go!" He forced out, breathing heavily through his nose and mouth. Blood oozed out from the corners of his mouth.   
And he attacked them fiercely.   
  
Not long afterwards faint cries of pain and grunts echoed through the allies. one of the gang members was thrown against the littered wall.  
  
"Now SCRAM!" an exhausted-looking Jounouchi wheezed out and threateningly motioned them to run before he changed his mind. Faint purple bruises marred his skin, but he paid no heed to his injuries. He was after all the least injured compared to the street gangs with their tattered clothes, swollen faces and bloodied-beaten bodies.  
  
Something silver was expertly whipped out of his pocket and a knife came into view.  
He grinned madly at his victims.   
Their faces paled immediately and they ran!  
  
Jounouchi was left alone in the allies. He chuckled to himself, amused.  
  
"You're late!" the door to the small office was closed.  
The bulky man turned around to frown at the person who'd just came in. The gray strands of hair indicated that he was someone of middle ages. His dull gray eyes pinned the younger figure down at the door. He didn't tolerate late coming [3].  
  
"I'm sorry, Kino-sama. I had some... problems along my way" Jounouchi hesitated as he bowed apologetically, shadowing the black purple bruises on his face.  
  
"Hn. Fine. Here's the money for this week, Jounouchi. Next time, do attend your matters beforehand" Kino said dismissively.  
  
-- X --  
  
Jounouchi skidded happily down the alleys and forgot about that morning's fight.   
  
He'd been saving money through simple labours ever since he'd realized he needed his future if he wanted to see the world in other colors. Especially when he wanted to see his younger sister again. Shizuka... she was his light in this black-colored world. She was his confidence. What may she thought of him if she saw him again?  
  
He grinned to himself and carefully climbed the fire-escape. He should be getting back to work after a few more minutes.  
The teenager stopped near a closed window and straightened his clothes; better look a bit neater for the old lady...  
  
"Mrs. Inoue, I'm here to fix your kitchen sink!"  
  
It was like an every day routine. He would deliver newspapers first and then check out the older folks' apartments for something repair. There was almost always something broken in their houses.   
  
Out of all those older friends of his, Mrs. Inoue was the closest friend he'd gotten. [3]. (But not really close enough). She would always pamper him whenever he came, either with extra food or let him sleep over.   
  
Jounouchi had this sneaking suspicion she was trying to hook him up with her granddaughter, who had been staring with her for a year. But never mind the matchmaking, Jounouchi did his work without getting distracted by pretty girls. To him, no one was as pretty as Shizuka... [4]  
  
That same night he'd succeeded in completing most of the smaller jobs. He was just heading through the dark alleys towards home, when someone attacked him.  
  
Someone had kicked him in the ribs and had slammed him against the walls. Jounouchi was quite taken by surprise and didn't have enough time to sense his attacker's next movement. He felt a fist slamming his abused jaw and found himself throwing his head to the side due to the harsh contact. Hissssssss.... that had hurt.  
Whoever was beating the crap out of him must be really mad at him.   
  
His attacker hauled him up on his feet roughly and dragged him along.   
  
"What's your problem!?" Katsuya shouted angrily and stumbled along. He tried to pull himself free, but it seemed his attacker was determined to do something to him... And why wasn't the guy saying anything?! He bit the offending hand hard! He earnd a hiss of pain. Good. Let go!  
  
"Drop dead, Jounouchi!"   
  
Aa... so he does speak, Jounouchi rolled his eyes. He figured the guy would say that. Jounouchi swept one leg under the other's feet, hoping that his captor might fall. However, he was unprepared when his captor blocked his attack. Another punch in his face, forcing the air out of his lungs and the pain into his conscious mind.   
  
Katsuya grunted and doubled over for the second time that day.  
  
His small body was hauled from his pained position. He found himself compared to a game's ball. Jounouchi's body had been thrown into an incoming car's line of track. The many bones in his body ached as he tried to recover from the near blindness in his eyes.  
  
His mind whirled as his eyes took in his surroundings. Everything around him was sort of dancing... If they'd wanted to kill him why couldn't they use their knives or guns?  
He should move!!!  
Fear gripped harshly in his chest. He widened his eyes when he found his body unresponsive to his commanding mind. Car lights started to blind his frightened eyes and the care came closer at full speed...  
  
*~*~* Flashback END ~*~*~ [2]_  
  
No one had been there for him in those days. No one.   
  
Maybe only Shizuka had been... but not physically.  
Her image had been long embedded in his heart. It reminded him that she's his driving force. He had someone to live for.  
  
Up till now no one had been there for him. He'd survived on his own.  
How_ he did not know either.   
  
If the inspector were out of the picture he should have been the one lying on that bed, wearing the hospital gown. He would feel satisfied that he'd taken the hit and thrown the dart at the same time.   
  
...  
  
But why couldn't he see the face?  
... was it because ... oh yeah, the guy had been standing indirectly in the sunset, shadowing most of his features. There's just something eerily familiar.  
  
...  
  
Somehow nothing seemed to matter. Everything should be lived for. The inspector was just doing his job. There words echoed through his mind. Katsuya tried to let his mind register that fact down. Because... besides that... no one had really known about his life on the streets; that he was capable of in these sorts of situations.   
  
But it seemed he was still confused about the inspector's actions.  
  
Shizuka peered curiously down at her brother. She noticed his far-of look. Maybe he's thinking this over, she mused inwardly. Oh how much she wanted to know about her brother's thoughts.   
  
How had he survived living alone for so many years? How could he manage the harsh reality? How did he become an officer?   
Etcetera.  
  
However, these questions were left unanswered...  
  
*.*.*.*.* ** End chapter 12***.*.*.*.*  
  
**Endnotes:  
**  
**1:** *sweatdrops* I forgot her eye colors. I assume it's brown for now.  
**2:** Do these scenes make sense? It's in the order of how alone he was in certain situations like near physical/sexual assualts, street gangs, enemies. I could've added more, but... *sweatdrops* not enough notepaper. ^-^;; Of course, these are not so extreme like Kaori Yuki's stories, ne?  
**3:** He's just a filler. No big character.  
**4:** It sounds like I'm overdoing their brother-sister relationship. 9_9  
  
I like to thank everyone who'd reviewed the previous chapter @-->---: ** Shadowy Fluffball**, ** Jenniyah**, ** Misura**, ** Jou-pup**, ** Angel-Belle** and ** Momma Cat**. Thank you!! Arigatou!! Danke!! Dank u wel!! Gracías!!   
**PS:** I love Takahashi Hiroki's voice ^o^ He plays Jounouchi Katsuya's Japanese voice.   
  
=^_^=cin


	14. Chapter 13: Autumn Holidays

**Haima  
Author: ** Nekocin  
**Anime:** Yuugioh  
**Warnings:** OOC  
**Rated:** PG-13  
**Disclaimer: ** Anime in question doesn't belong to me. Never was. Never will.  
**Author's notes:** I know I haven't been updating this story even if I've this chapter already in my notebook. I apologize for not typing this chapter earlier. I'm sorry.

* * *

**Chapter 13: Autumn Holidays  
**  
**10:15 AM - Friday  
**  
"How's your leg, Ryuuji-san?" Shizuka asked while putting fresh water in the vase for the flowers.  
  
"Never been better" officer Ryuuji grinned giddily. His leg had luckily been 'saved' from being amputated once it had gotten infected. He needed a few weeks before getting released from the hospital. And during that time Chief had given him permission to be on off-duty. Maybe he should thank that little idiot -erhm... rookie- for coming to save his life. Hehehe...  
  
It might have just been his luck that Shizuka-chan was checking on him. The dreamy look on his face went unnoticed by the optimistic younger Jounouchi or is it?. Would he ever get a chance with her?  
  
"Ryuuji-san... Ryuuji-san? Ryuuji-san?!" Shizuka frowned at the dreamy-looking officer on the bed with his injured leg.  
"I wonder what he's actually dreaming about" she mused when a knock on the door made her tune out her curiosity.  
  
"Shizuka-chan, there's someone who wants to speak to you outside" An officer popped his head into the room.  
  
Brown eyes. Brown hair. Hmmm... Who's he again?, she blinked in confusion. "Really? All right. Just give me a minute"  
  
Shizuka wondered who might want to speak to her in the hospital. Maybe Inspector Kaiba's younger brother?  
It has been 3 days already after that incident. She wondered if the younger Kaiba was going to get angry at her brother...  
  
The officer nodded goofily and immediately disappeared behind the door. Shizuka turned her attention back to the officer on the hospital bed.  
  
"Ryuuji-san, if you don't mind I've to go outside for awhile" she smiled and didn't notice the shocked look on the officer's face.  
  
NOOOO!!! Otogi screamed mentally. "Damn that Honda! He did it on purpose!"

* * *

"Would you like to come with me to the 'Stairs to Heaven' shinto for the Autumn festival tonight, Shizuka-chan?"  
  
As soon as Shizuka had come out that brown-eyed, brown-haired officer asked her out. What's his name again?... Hiro-something something?  
  
The officer sandwiched her hands into his and started giving her pleading looks.  
  
"Uhm... I..." Shizuka was still dumbstruck by the sudden question about the festival thing. She was speechless. What must she do?  
  
She had forgotten all about the Autumn festival while worrying about her brother's scarred past and present.  
Declining the offer would mean she would have to crush his hopes. That would be a very mean thing to do.  
  
"Uhm..."  
  
"That's a great idea! Why don't we all go there?" A new voice broke in. Both Shizuka and the officer looked up. "Huh?"  
  
She didn't know how, but a genuine smile really was flashed to whoever had made that suggestion.  
Officer Honda's eyes twitched in annoyance. Damn! It's that genius of a brother from the Inspector's side.  
  
"I agree, Kaiba-kun" Shizuka added quickly to confirm her acceptance of going to the temple even though if two guys were going to take her... EH?!  
Somehow a very unexpected thought hit her when she didn't notice. Shizuka blushed immediately. Why do some of the guys notice her?  
  
"Great! I'll tell brother that I won't be around tonight" he chirped, not quite understanding Shizuka's grateful smile.

* * *

**10: 36 AM  
**  
Katsuya stared, uninterested, out of the window. People were passing his side of the window, but he wasn't quite paying much attention to them. Not even to those wonderful-looking paper lamps.  
  
Maybe if he'd stayed clueless about the rookie case then maybe, just maybe he wouldn't have to be in the other's debt the Inspector's debt. The damn guilt was eating him inside.  
  
Jounouchi growled unconsciously when he thought about the guilt again. Images of how the inspector had taken the bullet were replaying occasionally in front of him. Why?  
  
"What is it, Jounouchi-kun?" agent Yuuki asked indifferently as he looked at the rookie from the corners of his eye. Yami had taken his car along on duty when he'd remembered their police car had exploded. This time agent Yuuki took the wheel and drove them towards area F.  
  
It was kind of strange to see the rookie so frustrated. Yami just didn't believe that police work had been too much for Jounouchi.  
  
"I'm at a loss..." Katsuya said lowly at last and sighed sadly. Should he tell? Was it worth agent Yuuki's time to hear him out?  
While keeping his eyes on the road, agent Yuuki swerved the wheel to the left. He stopped the car near the pedestrian road and turned to the rookie.  
  
"You know what your problem is, Katsuya-kun?"  
  
Katsuya blinked. His temporary teacher had just switched himself from using formal names. Did that mean it's getting personal?  
  
Yami smirked at the confused look. "You're having a block"  
  
Blink. Blink.  
Katsuya wondered what he meant. Was he saying it literally? Or figuratively? He'd never really seen agent Yuuki as some compassionate person, so why was he even bothering?  
  
Yami smirk broadened. "Tonight a summer festival will be held at the 'Stairs to Heaven' temple. Why don't you try your luck under the full moon?" he suggested mysteriously.  
  
Somehow that made something seem so obvious in Jounouchi's mind. Something clicked. "You're going to do that too, aren't you?"  
A smile slowly made its way to the rookie's face.  
_AHA! _ There's something going on here. Something really smell fishy about this topic, Katsuya mused and temporarily forgot about his previous dark mood.  
  
Yami steadied his smirk. Good. The rookie was giving him his full attention. Yami wondered how he would bring that carefree side of the rookie out. He himself had a hard time doing that until... ah, forget it.  
  
"Is it because of Yuugi?" Jounouchi teased, abruptly ending Yami's serious thoughts. At the mention of agent Mutou's name, Yami stared wide-eyed at the rookie. He'd almost sputtered out in denial, but being the way he was, agent Yuuki Yami didn't sputter.  
  
"What?"  
  
The look on the rookie's face told him that Katsuya knew what he's talking about. Katsuya knew that he knew he knew what he meant. It was too obvious.  
  
"Don't deny it. It's so obvious, but I admit, it took me a while to notice this... this thread" Katsuya grinned truthfully as he watched Yami's face pale.  
  
Yami flushed embarrassedly. "Y-you knew it all along?"  
  
"Mhm. But it's still strange that Yuugi hadn't picked up the pieces yet. At first I thought you were just being goody-goody with your previous partner, Yuugi. But later on I just happened to find out that yours is much more than just companionship" Jounouchi nodded eagerly, happy to share this little discovery with his temporary teacher.  
  
"Aa... Yuugi has a hard time telling the differences between police life and commoner life. He sort of see the pieces, but didn't think they were important..." Yami smiled sadly. It really hurts to feel so left out from the one you like.  
  
"Why not tell him tonight? The moon is some sort of romantic symbol for two lovers, right?" Katsuya cut in.  
  
Yami flushed. What if the feelings aren't mutual? What if Yuugi would feel disgusted? What if he was too late to confess?  
  
"Why don't you go take Mai-san along tonight?" Yami blurted out. It wasn't his intention to turn the around but... he'd seen the look on agent Kujaku's face whenever Jounouchi was around or when his name came up in a conversation. The look was hopeful, longing, wistful... love.  
  
_Heh.  
_  
For someone like Jounouchi Katsuya Yami was surprised that the rookie hadn't noticed this. Maybe he was just too busy fussing over his younger sister's safety or too goofy to tell the feelings apart or too dutiful to even see those looks or maybe he's already in love with another or... he might be ignoring her... Heck! They all seem possible answers.  
  
The teasing smile faltered and the light in those brown eyes disappeared. Katsuya felt empty and the guilt came back.  
  
"I can't... I mean, I would like to... since Shizuka loves having me going out with a companion... especially on holidays. But I can't. I've something in mind... that I need to do right away. Sorry" His answer was so jumbled that Yami wasn't sure if Jounouchi knew about his implication that someone had a crush on him...

* * *

**10:30 AM  
**  
"Onii-chan?..." Mokuba started softly. He peeked through the door's jar just to see if his brother was asleep.  
  
"Hm?"  
  
This confirmed the younger Kaiba's suspicion; Big brother wasn't even resting! He was...  
  
"Onii-chan! You should be resting, not working!" Mokuba scolded when he saw the laptop on his brother's lap.  
Red-rimmed blue eyes looked dully at the harsh violet eyes of the younger Kaiba. The blue eyes immediately softened.  
  
"I need to finish my projects as soon as possible" the patient explained. The older one rubbed his neck carefully as he tried not to pain himself through more physical movements.  
  
"Onii-chan!" Mokuba crossed his arms over his chest and gave his brother a disapproving look. "No working yourself out till the end when you need to rest in order to heal that wound"  
  
Seto sighed. He didn't like to be ordered around whenever he needed to finish his works. Especially not from someone like Mokuba who's studying for Doctor. But... at the back of his mind he knew he needed to get out of bed soon. There's plenty of work to do if he's not out of hospital in two weeks.  
  
Seto looked apologetically at his brother and received with a small smile from his brother.  
  
The smile faltered.  
"Onii-chan, would you get mad if I told you I'd agreed to go somewhere without asking for your permission?" After taking a deep breath, Mokuba blurted out, hopefully.  
  
"No, why would I get mad?" Seto's lips twitched slightly. His stomach dropped as soon as he'd said that. He feared Mokuba would have to leave him one day. Hopefully, not that day. Mokuba wouldn't be so cruel to leave him behind when he's bedridden, right? Right? Just because he looked so helpless in that bed... that wouldn't be the reason, right?  
  
"Because that will be the reason why I can't be here tonight, onii-chan" Mokuba answered truthfully and peered critically at his brother. He wondered if his brother was suppressing all his real feelings just because he's present. _ Dammit!_ He's not a little kid anymore! Maybe he acted like one, but he's truly sure that he's not a little kid.  
  
"Oh... the Autumn Festival, ne?" Seto responded awkwardly. Sadness welled up inside of him. He felt sorry for himself that he couldn't take his younger brother somewhere just to celebrate the Autumn Festival.  
  
When was the last time they'd been doing something together? When was the last time he'd watched Mokuba grow out of his childhood into adolescences?  
  
"Yes. I actually agreed to go because I'd sensed Shizuka-chan was feeling uncomfortable going alone with officer Honda. I guess I sort of blurted out as soon as I saw her indecisiveness" Mokuba explained embarrassedly while scratching the back of his neck.  
  
"But don't worry. I'll try to get back as soon as possible before onii-chan feels lonely" he added quickly. The younger Kaiba already felt bad about 'saving' someone because he had to leave his big brother behind that night.  
  
It was so unfair!  
  
"Aa... Have a great time then. Don't let me be the reason to stop you from having fun" Understanding seemed clear in Seto's eyes. So the reason had to be the famous rule of saving the damsel from distress. "So you're now her knight in shining armor?"  
  
Mokuba blushed. He really didn't mean it to give his brother such an idea, but it really sort of fell in the same category.

* * *

**11:00 AM  
**  
**Station 6**'s chief, **PJ**, was looking over some reports as he slowly rolled his chair distractedly. Most of the handwritings were done by the ever-so-critical agent Yuuki, but they really lacked the rookie's presence. Was the rookie getting lazier by the minute? He thought he'd seen the rookie writing furiously over is report just a few days ago. What had happened?  
  
"Haku" his commanding tone snapped the said person out of his daily mind rants about the lower officers having no respect for him and such petty stuff surrounding a certain person.  
  
"Yes, sir?" Bakura responded indifferently and blanked his face once he looked at the chief.  
  
"What's the latest reports on our rookie's behavior?" the agent looked up at the ceiling for awhile and collected his thoughts carefully.  
  
"Depressed would be a good word, sir"  
  
A delicate eyebrow rose up.  
  
"Depressed? I thought personal problems should be tune out whenever one's one duty" The chief pointed out. He's a bit enraged by the rookie's behavior. Jounouchi should have blended into police life for a few days by now.  
  
"That murder case on rookies hadn't been solved, am I right?" the chief sighed and abruptly asked when he remembered the word 'rookie; in a different light.  
  
"No, sir" came the dull reply.  
  
"I see..." The chief clasped his hands in front of his face and looked thoughtfully at the door. Maybe he should ask the rookie personally or maybe he should pair Jounouchi up with agent Mutou.  
  
Besides that, Chief Crawford wouldn't be surprised if agent Yuuki was letting the rookie on his own. The guy didn't really have this social sense in him except maybe... for that agent Mutou. Who can help but like the friendly agent Mutou? But as cold as agent Yuuki might be, he's a good officer.  
  
"You're dismissed"  
  
Bakura bowed and turned away. He collected himself and kept his eyes on his desk next to his childhood friend, agent Ishtar. What had actually happened? Agent Yuuki refused to say one word to him about the rookie a few days ago. It meant something had happened to the rookie... something that had to be shushed among them.  
  
For some reasons unknown, he looked around absently and somehow his attention was focused on someone across his side of the desks.  
  
Big confused brown eyes had looked up when the chief called for his partner. He wondered if the chief was going to replace everyone all over again like last time. He was considered as one of the lucky ones who didn't have to be replaced unlike agent Mutou.  
  
But unfortunately, he'd to stick with agent Haku. Those damn uncomfortable feelings whenever his partner's around made him feel edgy towards the other. It wasn't like he hated having the other around. It was just this damn unknown feeling...  
_ACK! _  
  
Bakura was looking at his direction.  
  
Ryou panicked mentally and quickly broke eye contact. Ryou prayed his partner wasn't going to suspect him of something...  
  
"Meet me at 'Heaven's gate' temple 11 o'clock tonight" the familiar voice made Ryou stiffen. The footsteps went past him as soon as he looked up in surprise. He watched agent Haku take his place behind his desk and frowned.  
  
_Huh?  
_  
**End Chapter 13  
  
End notes:  
**  
- ** Shinto** - Buddhist temple  
- ** "Stairs to Heaven"** is not really a temple I can be wrong though  
- I believe the Japanese celebrate Autumn festival... but I forgot within which week this is celebrated. ** :sweatdrops:** I'm sorry for my incompetence.  
- Oh yeah, a very big error. Throughout the story I've let Mokuba refer to his brother as "**Onii-chan**" instead of the actual "**Nii-sama**" he always use in the Japanese version. I'm sorry for using the more affectionate one ** :points at 'Onii-chan':**.  
  
It might not make any sense anymore, after I've been gone from this story awhile. So re-reading might spark the interest again... if you have come this far, that is. ** :sigh: **  
  
**:smiley face: cin**


	15. Chapter 14: Stairs to Heaven

**Title: ** Haima  
**Author:** Nekocin  
**Anime: **Yu-gi-oh  
**Genres: ** slight Drama, slight Angst, slight... Action?, slight Suspense  
**Warnings:** OOC, slight disturbing torture?, possible cliché  
**Rated:** R at the end, BEWARE!  
**Disclaimer:** Anime in question doesn't belong to me. Never was. Never will. So bow down to the creator!  
**Author's notes:** Okay, here's chapter 14. Chapter 15 might get a bit delayed since chapter 16 isn't quite done yet **:sweatdrops:**. I hope everyone's questions are answered at the end of this page. Believe me, the responses are long. I'd planned on revising the chapters from chapter 14 till the end, since these chapters were a bit off; not of my taste. But alas... I didn't succeed. **:hangs head:**

* * *

**Chapter 14: Stairs to Heaven  
**  
**12:00  
**  
Someone in a white coat stood in front of officer Ryuuji's bed. A report card in his arm, a pen between his fingers, a pair of glasses perched on his nose and a stethoscope round the back of his neck.  
  
"How are you feeling, Ryuuji-san?" The name on his coat blinked: Dr. Ogata J.  
  
Otogi looked up sleepily at the doctor. Was it already time for the check-up? The doctor poked on his injured leg and waited for some reaction.  
  
"Oh, hi sensei. I'm quite fine, but at the moment a bit sleepy" Otogi explained as he rubbed his eyes a few times. He felt tired indeed and couldn't keep his eyes properly open.  
  
The doctor's appearance in front of him was blurred and the room sort of swirled.  
  
"I see..." A secretive smile appeared. "You've taken in your medicine quite properly, Ryuuji-san. It's to be expected..." the rest of the words trailed off, leaving a mysterious gap behind.  
  
Ogata-sensei headed for the door and... locked it.  
  
_Click.  
_  
Otogi wasn't even thinking straight as he watched the wavy figure approaching him. "Is there something wrong?"  
  
And then he blacked out.

* * *

**12:20 PM  
**  
Agent Ishtar stood outside the hearing room and absently started to pace in front of the door. Yami hadn't had much luck talking to that guy even if they'd known each other in the past.  
  
He took on himself to complete the job immediately before he loses his temper. that damn Mariku was getting under his skin already. He could faintly see his partner, agent Mutou and Jounouchi-san's sister watching him worriedly, while standing by the sides. Neither of them had approached him and asking what's wrong.  
  
"I'm going in" he muttered firmly and stopped pacing. He had to get this over with.  
  
"Are you sure, agent Ishtar?" Yugi asked worriedly as he took a step forward.  
  
"I've to do this" Malik smiled faintly and looked at Yugi with an unreadable look on his face.  
  
"Don't let him get you" Shizuka uttered warmly. Malik sent her an unreadable look too.  
  
"Actually... he's already got me" And his lips twitched into an awkward smile.  
  
Both Yugi and Shizuka looked confused. "Huh?"  
Agent Ishtar stepped into the hearing room and closed the door behind him.  
  
Mariku was sitting comfortably stretched out on a chair across the the agent's position. The bored-looking Mariku glanced up at whoever come in.  
  
"Good morning" Agent Ishtar greeted darkly as his heart sped quicker in anticipation.  
  
"Aa, it's you" Mariku closed his eyes for a moment and sat up straight. A grin appeared on his face and his eyes twinkled with mischief.  
"What can I do for you, Malik?" he asked slyly and purposely used the agent's first name. It was definitely a sign of starting their game all over again.  
  
"Just answer a few questions, Mariku. Cooperate with me and that will be all" The agent unconsciously took a deep breath just to say this steadily. He felt unsure about the other's intentions by harassing him constantly through mindless games.  
  
Mariku's grin hadn't left his face yet as he hardened his eyes. Wouldn't these officers give up? They can't just get anything out of him just like that!  
  
"Naw... I can't promise you that, my dear Malik" he said sweetly, which was in a way not sweet at all.  
  
Malik sent him the Famous Ishtar glare™ and confidently strode towards the table. He slammed his hands on the table and leaned over to meet Mariku's face closely.  
  
"If you won't cooperate then you must have to go to a one-sided trial! Who do you work for?"  
  
Mariku smirked at the agent's efforts to get him to talk. It's no use telling him such things. Agent Ishtar's so weak in this field, the interrogating field.  
  
Malik growled inwardly. The guy's still not believing me, he thought darkly and clenched his hands. SLAM!  
Malik had pushed the table away in anger and fisted Mariku's collar.  
"I can do this by force if I have to" Malik hissed into Mariku's face as his face redden in anger. You are known for your past crimes in the streets, so we might not let you free that easily.  
  
Mariku's smirk was still steady when Malik had 'attacked' him indirectly. And indeed the officer got a temper!  
_This is going to be one long day, dear cute agent_, Mariku thought playfully.

* * *

**12:20 PM  
**  
Shizuka's accompanying Yugi down the halls with piles of paper works to put away in the Station's Administration room.  
  
"Do you think agent Ishtar will be okay, Yugi-san?" Shizuka interrupted their comfortable silence as they entered the Administration room.  
  
"To tell you the truth, Shizuka-chan, I'm not sure. But I hope agent Ishtar will succeed" Yugi smiled brightly at the younger Jounouchi.  
  
"Ne, Shizuka-chan. Why did you start hanging around with me and not with Jounouchi-kun, your brother?"  
He ducked his face in shame when he asked that unexpectedly.  
  
It was true. A few days ago Shizuka had been following her brother around, obediently. But later on, she started hanging around with him a lot. Maybe she's in love with-  
  
"Onii-chan needs some space. I'm the only one who seem to have some sort of strangling effect on him. It's just whenever I stay around you, Yugi-san, then onii-chan wouldn't have to worry about me all the time" Shizuka explained as she followed Yugi along the rows of paperworks.  
  
"Is that okay with you, Yugi-san? I mean... staying with you, Yugi-san?" she added quickly hopefully.  
  
"I'm fine with it" So that's why, Yugi noted understandingly and let out a sigh of relief.  
  
"Thank you" Shizuka smiled gratefully and suddenly remembered something she'd almost forgotten to ask. "Are you going to 'Stairs to Heaven' for the Autumn Festival?"  
  
Yugi stopped walking, abruptly and went off to the left. "Uhm... no. I think I've other plans in mind"  
He looked up at the stored paper work, trying to find the right current year on a big box.  
  
"Like work?" Shizuka cut in and shook her head disapprovingly. Yugi's starting to sound like a workaholic.  
  
"What will you do if I told you that maybe Yami-san is going to be there?" A sly grin appeared out of nowhere on Shizuka's face as Yugi stopped near one of the boxes at the very end of the corner.  
  
"That's an understatement. Yami-san doesn't really like festivals and holidays. He said they're too 'happy' for him"

* * *

**13:00 PM  
**  
"Are you sure about this, Jounouchi-san?" Yami sent Katsuya a skeptic look. He watched the other step pit of the car.  
  
The look on the rookie's face had made Yami wonder what the rookie was up to as soon as Jounouchi had told him to drop him off near the hospital. It wasn't very hard for Yami to put things together which hospital the rookie had meant.  
  
Of course, the rookie wanted to check on both the inspector and agent Ryuuji. But somehow Yami wondered where the sour look had come from. Was it really because of the hard police work that made the rookie run for cover? _ Or is it...?_  
  
"Yes... I'm quite sure" Jounouchi answered casually and clenched his fist.  
"You go have your fun with Yugi-san" The rookie suddenly added playfully and ran off into the general direction of the hospital.  
  
The agent stared at the retreating back for awhile and faintly smirked.  
  
"No wonder he's interesting" Yami mumbled to himself. His smirk broadened.  
  
If Jounouchi-san ever going to get a chance like -this-, Yami wouldn't be surprised how much time it's worth to 'torture' a certain workaholic named Kaiba. From experience Yami had known the inspector didn't like surprises at all.  
  
"Good luck" He mumbled softly to no one in particular and turned his attention to the traffic.  
  
XXX  
  
Katsuya's brown eyes darted around the halls, nervously. He could feel his heart beating against his chest painfully.  
  
Why was he scared?  
  
Was it the guilt?  
  
Suddenly his courage for facing the inspector had seeped out of his body. It felt horrible being like this. So cowardly...  
  
**Room 510.  
**  
Why was he making such a fuzz anyways?  
  
Jounouchi took a deep breath, knocked on the door and reached for the doorknob. It wasn't like him being so scared. As if expecting something horrible behind the door, the rookie carefully peered into the darkened room.  
  
The curtains had not been drawn by the morning nurse, leaving the room in its peaceful and yet comfortable semi-darkness state. The occupant in room 510 seemed to be asleep.  
  
Without being noticed by any passersby, the rookie slipped into the room. After all, no visitors were allowed whenever the patient was resting except when the patient is obviously in either a coma or hadn't woken up yet  
  
The patient's steady breathing filled the silent room. But as soon as the rookie had turned around, his ragged breathing and hammering of his heart dominated the patient's soft snoring.  
  
"This is ridiculous" Katsuya chuckled bitterly and slowly approached the bed. The inspector was neatly tucked under those white sheets.  
  
_He even wore a frown in his sleep_, Katsuya thought ironically. At the back of the rookie's mind, he wondered why he visited the inspector first instead of Ryuuji. Jounouchi suddenly got the urge to fill the silence in the room with inspector Kaiba as his conscious or unconscious listener. He needed to pour his guilt out even if Kaiba's asleep.  
  
"Coward" Katsuya started softly, breaking the silence. It's more a statement directed to himself than the patient. "I'm a coward, all right. I can't even face you directly when you're awake. Though I really wonder why..." he shifted uncomfortably from one side to the other as he felt his heart bleeding selflessness. As if expecting to get some response from his small audience, Jounouchi looked at the patient.  
  
Seeing no change on the inspector's face, Katsuya sighed.  
  
"You know, I never got to thank you for saving my life back there... thank you! I'm grateful" the young officer bowed immediately, not wanting to look at the sleeping figure.  
It felt awkward to be this thankful, he noted silently.  
  
"... I've never done this before... but... I mean, no one had ever done this before... saving my life, I mean. I grew up alone in the streets, you know? I never got the chance to really prove myself, being vulnerable since all I'd ever done was fighting my way out of street gangs. It's just... I'm not used to thanking anyone for saving me. It's weird and a bit too personal. And... and I'm sorry you've to be in bed because of me. I shouldn't have acted so rash, thinking to myself that I could pin the killer..." Words suddenly stumble out of his mouth.  
  
His nervousness wasn't making the situation any better. Katsuya babbled on, explaining his rough childhood to no one in particular... he might even been aware what he was actually doing. If he was still in his right mind, he would've noticed he talked more than he usually did to the inspector, whom he didn't share anything deep.  
  
"Don't mention it" Someone interrupted, cutting Katsuya halfway.  
  
...  
  
The voice sounded familiar...  
  
...  
  
The interruption had startled the rookie, making him jump backwards in defense and squeak out in surprise. Katsuya cursed silently for tuning his instincts out as soon as he'd entered room 510. His alarmed eyes went no further than on the patient himself.  
  
The inspector pushed off the sheets and climbed down from the bed. The way he'd smoothly moved, betrayed his wakefulness.  
  
What the...  
  
Katsuya gaped at the inspector, his brown eyes frowning. The guy had been awake this whole time?  
  
"You have been awake this whole time?!" he squeaked out incredulously. The hollow feeling in his stomach that had settled as soon as he'd entered the hospital immediately disappeared. Anger came in as its replacement.  
  
"Isn't it obvious?" the inspector responded indifferently and fumbled with the hospital gown he was currently wearing.  
  
"Why couldn't you receive me properly instead of playing Sleeping Beauty? And why the fuck are you getting out of bed?! You should be resting!" Katsuya raised his voice by each notch in anger and shook a fist threateningly at the damn inspector.  
  
"I can't rest" Kaiba mumbled and undressed himself.  
  
"What the fuck are you doing?!" Jounouchi almost screamed out in embarrassment and turned around quickly to give the other his privacy. He was breathing fast as his eyes darted around, frantically. _ Dammit! _ His temper flared noticeably as he grumbled something incoherently about stupid inspectors and their spooky nature under his breath.  
  
_The guy had been awake!_, Katsuya groaned silently. He'd made a fool out of himself, confessing he's a real coward. Katsuya felt the humiliation weighing on his guilty side.  
  
_Damn inspector!_, he flushed embarrassedly as he recalled having told most stuff about his past to the inspector he'd never told anyone before not even Shizuka. He hadn't really expected the other to hear -everything-.  
  
"What are you standing there for? Let's go!" Kaiba snapped Jounouchi out of his little mental rant.  
  
Katsuya looked up owlishly at the now fully business-dressed inspector. "To where?"  
  
The inspector rolled his eyes exasperatedly. The rookie must have used up all his energy to talk about his past, unnoticeably of course. Because Jounouchi was acting like an air head.  
Without much vocal response, the inspector grabbed the rookie by the arm and pulled him along. At least, the rookie was following him obediently.  
  
Katsuya frowned in confusion during the whole way down the corridors. "What's going on? Where are you taking me? Why do you want me to follow you?"  
  
"Does solving a case ring a bell?" Kaiba responded with a question instead. It was so obvious... why couldn't the rookie figure it out? There's not much time to explain anyways. Bringing the rookie along might have a good excuse to watch over him while he followed the clues. The question was: were all those answers to the poem enough just to get the killer behind bars?  
  
Noticing the intense look on the inspector's face, Katsuya figured he wouldn't get any answers out of Kaiba any time soon. Especially when the guy was obviously hiding something from him.  
  
_Damn superiors! Can't even tell me important stuff concerning me in front of my face_, Katsuya glowered inwardly.

* * *

**13:30 PM  
**  
_**Tell me dear...  
**_  
Agent Otogi laid crumpled in an old white bath tub. His hospital gown covered his body like a guilt. Noting from his peaceful look, he'd no idea that he had been removed from the hospital bed.  
  
Someone circled the old tub carefully.  
  
_if roses are red  
_  
"Tell me dear, Otogi. If roses are red..." he murmured like a chant. Red blossoms trailed down like snowflakes from the sky around the sleeping agent.  
Ryuuji stirred restlessly.  
  
_**bathed in fear  
**_  
The person paused as he bent over to push a few strands of hair from Ryuuji's face.  
  
"My dear Otogi... bathed in fear"  
  
Now how should he finish this one off?  
  
Suddenly the phone rang, surprising him out of his musings. He glared over his shoulder, but made no move to answer the phone. It must be one of THOSE people again. He really needed to hurry up.  
  
Oh well, better start with _** bathed in fear**_  
  
The unidentified killer pulled out a dagger, carefully, out of a small sheath. He headed towards the kitchen, then threw a few blank papers in the wastebasket and lit a match. The yellow, orange lames quickly consumed the litter hungrily.  
  
He watched the flames dance in the littler basket and went on his haunches. The dagger was placed above the hungry flames. The cold metal got heated.  
  
**_and covered in sweat  
_**  
Who says he'd other intentions to make that sentence come true?  
  
"... and covered in sweat" he murmured lowly. Slowly, a smirk reached his lips as he watched the flames engulf the metal of his dagger.  
  
Now he had to come up with an idea to lure the other one to him, unexpectedly of course. With no ingenious inspector and tough agent around to save him. Maybe not even the rookie's girlfriend.  
  
It's up to the rookie...  
  
**_and covered in sweat_**

* * *

** End chapter 14  
  
End notes:  
**  
- "sensei" in this case is referred to those who have advanced jobs or some sort :sweatdrops: Doctors get these sorts of suffixes too even if they're not really teachers.  
- Some scenes will have references to the side stories either in "Aventurien" or "Turamali" will be on the way once I'm done with "Haima" or "Fluere". I'm not very sure when the latter two will come up since I'm a bit stuck with "Haima" and "Aventurien"  
- I think Jounouchi Katsuya is pretty much someone who has a very low-esteem about himself unless someone else important sort of fuel him up that he's not so bad like he thinks he seems. At least that's my impression... wonder if there's anyone who has other impression. :looks around:  
- And I believe Katsuya had went under a major character change here Oo. Sorry for that.  
  
**Misura:** I'm sorry for being away for so long. I've wanted to revise the next few chapters after chapter 12. -.- Sadly, it didn't work out, because my whole scheme is thrown into a mad pace of how to go on when this happens and this and that. Argh! I guess writer's block had fuzzed all my ideas **:cries:**.  
Thank you. Heheheh, that idea had just came out of nowhere because I thought it's very cliché to see them fight for Shizuka. So I put Mokuba in between too. **:twiddles:** Aa, I hope I didn't do too bad with Otogi **:cries:**. **:blushes: ** Thank you. I thought I've described him as a little boy again. . And the last comment in their conversation had been quite my intention. **:V-sign:** I think I'll put that one in "Aventurien" if the story just come around already. Thank you for reading up till now.  
  
**Spider Azrail: Gil Thief-chan: :blushes:** I'm quite flattered with your comments. Aniki _ IS_ spelled like that **:sweatdrops:** I think I've been messing around with too much brother and sister references. Now I'm completely confused. . In ** "Tennis no Oujisama"** the younger brother calls his big brother **"Aniki"**... in ** "Card Captor Sakura"** the younger sister calls her big brother **"Onii-chan"**. See what I mean? Lots of confusion . Don't worry about it, I'm also partially a perfectionist. Oh yes, "Aventurien" is already up. But I'm stumped with all three side fics at the moment. **:sweatdrops:** Thank you for reading up till now.  
  
**DirtyD Momma Cat: ** I'm sorry for giving you that idea. This story already has chapters up till 15, chapter 16 is a bit... hard for me to write. But I appreciate it that you're still hanging around here. is such a dork that she couldn't update sooner I'm sorry. I'll try to keep the chapters coming as soon as I can. **:chuckles:** It's more a quadruple ? ** :P **  
Are you satisfied both of them did in this chapter? Mariku is still coming around. I think I'll reserve that question to "Turamali" the side-fic. Sorry for confusing you even more with half scenes. Thank you for reading this story up till now.  
  
**Beysie:** **:sweatdrops:** I'm sorry if it's a really long story with not much interaction between Kaiba and Jounouchi. 2 hours? So it's non-stop? I feel quite flattered to hear that. Hehehe, I'll try to write the end quickly so that you can get the rest of the story. **:blushes:** Aa... well, I'm not sure if lemon can come in here. A side fic or just a side scene in one of the side-fics might have some hints here and there, but at the moment I'm more focused on trying to end the story, catching the killer and continue to explore the relationship... if there's any **:sweatdrops:**, I hope there is. Thank you for reading up till now.  
  
**Shadowy Fluffball: ** Thank you for being around up till now .  
  
**By the way, sorry for the long ending notes.  
  
:smiley face: cin**


	16. Chapter 15: It's in His Eyes

**Haima  
Author:** Nekocin  
**Anime:** Yuugioh  
**Genres:** Action, Angst, slight Drama  
**Warnings: _MAJOR_ **OOC, possible cliché ., might be a bit unreasonable, torture.  
**Rated:** PG13, **R** for a while.  
**Disclaimer:** Anime in question doesn't belong to me. Never was. Never will. So bow down to the creator!  
**Author's notes:** Note the torture warning. Please don't hate me Otogi-fans. **:bows:**

**13:30 PM  
**  
_**Tell me dear...  
**_  
Agent Otogi laid crumpled in an old white bath tub. His hospital gown covered his body like a guilt. Noting from his peaceful look, he'd no idea that he had been removed from the hospital bed.

Someone circled the old tub carefully.

_**if roses are red  
**_  
"Tell me dear, Otogi. If roses are red..." he murmured like a chant. Red blossoms trailed down like snowflakes from the sky around the sleeping agent.  
Ryuuji stirred restlessly.

_**bathed in fear  
**_  
The person paused as he bent over to push a few strands of hair from Ryuuji's face.

"My dear Otogi... bathed in fear"

Now how should he finish this one off?

Suddenly the phone rang, surprising him out of his musings. He glared over his shoulder, but made no move to answer the phone. It must be one of THOSE people again. He really needed to hurry up.

Oh well, better start with _**bathed in fear**_

The unidentified killer pulled out a dagger, carefully, out of a small sheath. He headed towards the kitchen, then threw a few blank papers in the wastebasket and lit a match. The yellow, orange lames quickly consumed the litter hungrily.

He watched the flames dance in the littler basket and went on his haunches. The dagger was placed above the hungry flames. The cold metal got heated.

**_and covered in sweat  
_**  
Who says he'd other intentions to make that sentence come true?

"... and covered in sweat" he murmured lowly. Slowly, a smirk reached his lips as he watched the flames engulf the metal of his dagger.

Now he had to come up with an idea to lure the other one to him, unexpectedly of course. With no ingenious inspector and tough agent around to save him. Maybe not even the rookie's girlfriend.

It's up to the rookie...

**_and covered in sweat_**

**Chapter 15: It's in his Eyes **

13:45 PM

The inspector was sitting behind the wheel, glaring at the road in front of him, while Jounouchi was sitting next to him, fidgeting with his seatbelt. He would occasionally glance reproachfully at the driver as he kept on the fidgeting.

The fidgeting caught the inspector's attention. "What?"

Katsuya went rigid instantly.

"... isn't this a bit illegal?" he pointed out nervously. Damn inspector!

"Not if you get caught" the inspector responded without waiting for the rookie to elaborate on his question.

"But you've just _-stolen-_ a car! It's **-stolen-**!" **1** Officer Jounouchi emphasized his words quite visibly with an accusing finger at the driver.

A few minutes ago the rookie had put together so far that the inspector wasn't always behind the law. Said guy had broken into a car back at the hospital and was driving it casually down the road as if he hadn't done anything wrong. The bastard deceived him with that oh-so-serious attitude of wanting to solve the case and sending the serial killer to jail.

"So? I needed a car," the inspector countered both icily and bluntly. Who says that the rookie was even innocent after the little stunt he had pulled off in that police car?

"You could have just taken a taxi or let me call for someone from the station to pick you up. And why the hell am I here? Where are we going?" Jounouchi felt his anger flaring suddenly -he was back at questioning the inspector the same questions he had been flinging into the other's face for the last few minutes. Does the inspector even know where he must go?

"Time is a precious thing" was the inspector's cryptic response, and left it at that. It's a good thing that the rookie had picked up the tone which meant 'no further discussion' between both of them. The rookie hadn't said anything after that He instead turned to look out of the window.

Just let the rookie figure it out himself, the inspector thought to himself. After all, the whole situation should make sense by now.  
He grunted unconsciously and with his right hand he went for his breast pocket.

"Here" the inspector shoved something roughly into the rookie's hands.

"Huh?" Jounouchi looked up, clearly startled at the sudden action.

The inspector didn't say anything; he just studied the rookie's reactions from the corner of his eyes.

The rookie looked down at his hands and curiously unfolded the papers. It was a draft.

_**Tell me dear -- Ryuuji, station 6 **_

if roses are red -- could be the Japanese rose "death"

Katsuya raised an eyebrow in surprise. He recalled having answered that, when Shizuka brought up that sentence. He cautiously looked at the inspector. The guy seemed to be watching him even if his eyes were on the road.

Katsuya shivered inwardly. How did the guy do that?  
He resumed reading the papers which seemed to have the possible answers to their poem.

_**bathed in fear  
covered in swear --- bath?, scaring the agent?, wet?, molest?, sexual harassing? **_

Katsuya frowned. The answers weren't too specific, but he didn't like any of them. A bit too... far, maybe, unlikely to be acceptable. His stomach dropped instantly.  
He looked up at the inspector and opened his mouth to comment, but nothing seemed appropriate enough in his mind to speak out at the moment. So he closed his mouth and resumed his reading.

_**What's the only thing in mind  
that can make me this hard to find? --- the riddle  
**_  
The answer seemed a bit vague, oh well. Katsuya continued reading the next part.

**_As for the rest of the sweet phrase  
don't worry, it will come --- "Roses are red, violets are blue,..."_**

**_Just hope you can race  
because my treat had yet begun --- ?_**

The inspector watched as the rookie's frown deepened.

**_If it may, if it might  
I know I'm making sense here --- ?_**

**_Roll on your sleeve and take up our fight  
you know I'll win. You know I'm near -- Some sort of figure in speech. Seems to know beforehand._**

The frown deepened again. The answers were too vague.

_**How may I say this --- unnecessary sentence **_

how may you figure it --- also unnecessary sentence

The frown deepened again. Suddenly the whole thing made no sense. The whole poem brought him back to stanza I

_**how about just this kiss --- some sort of relationship with Ryuuji? **_

and then the kid? --- must be referring to Ryuuji's death?

Jounouchi didn't bother to look at the next poem. He figured there might not be any useful answers in that one either. Katsuya bit his lip unconsciously as he frowned again. Maybe he should figure this riddle out on his own or something. He felt at the back of his mind that this riddle was much easier than he had expected. With that thought he searched his pockets.

"Hey, do you have a pen here? I think I lost mine at the hospital"

"What for?"

"Apparently these 'clues' are too vague" Katsuya pointed out and grabbed for the nearest pen, which was fastened on the inspector's breast pocket.

"Thank you" He muttered quickly, cutting off Kaiba's startled protest. Officer Jounouchi nibbled absently on the pen's cap as he read the first poem over and over again.

"How did you solve the previous cases?"

The inspector looked thoughtful for awhile and chose his words carefully. "Agent Yuuki and I had recently found out it's a matter of answering the riddles hidden in the poems. The answers should have some lead, but it can be frustrating when you're not sure if he's taking this seriously or figuratively"  
He drove nearby one of the alleys of the city.

"I see..." Katsuya tilted his head thoughtfully and blinked when the inspector had stopped the car. "Why have you brought us here?"

The inspector didn't say anything and stepped out of the stolen car. In a way, wasn't it obvious what he was doing? They should figure the riddles out-

"Uungh!" He immediately clutched the side where he'd been shot in alarm. Pain registered his mind. He shouldn't have stepped out of bed... but still, his work came first, right? One bullet in his body wasn't sending him away cowardly. But the pain...

Someone's hand was gripping his shoulder firmly, trying to pull him through the pain. For a moment, he found himself flustered, he didn't know to whom that hand belonged to.

"Hey!" Katsuya exclaimed, grabbing hold of the inspector's shoulder and slowly eased the injured man back into the driver's seat.

"Stupid bastard!" Officer Jounouchi muttered, furrowing his brows in irritation and worry. "You shouldn't have left the hospital!"

"Who are you calling 'stupid bastard'?!" the inspector wheezed out, glaring at the rookie and stubbornly pushed the officer's hands away. "Stop fussing. I'm fine!"

"No, you're not!" Jounouchi glared at the inspector and pushed the other to the other seat next to the driver's seat.  
He was trying to sit behind the wheel, but it seemed like the inspector wasn't going to back down soon; Kaiba was trying to pry the rookie's motherly hands away, but they just came back.

It took a while for them to stop countering each other's hands. After seeing no point in the situation, the officer growled and huffed in annoyance.

"Fine! Whatever! Have it your way! But if I notice you struggling or whatever I will not hesitate forcing you back to bed!"  
He ran his fingers through his hair, frustratingly and searched his pockets for the poem. They were going nowhere countering one another like that, he reasoned mentally.

The inspector just glared at the seemingly oblivious officer as he unconsciously touched the part of his side where he was wounded. Why was the rookie so careless when _-he- _was going to be someone's target _-no doubt-_?  
A shot wound was a wound. The wound would be healed in a few weeks or months anyways depending on how quick one's body could heal. It's annoying when the rookie fussed around.

He's no porcelain souvenir to be treasured. And stop ignoring him as if he's not there!, he growled unconsciously; pissed off of... -what?- he didn't know. Why was he so worked up about little stuff such as their small hand fight from a minute ago?

"...maybe the answers should be a bit more literally taken?" the rookie suggested, promptly forgetting the little war he had with the wounded. "Do we have to find concrete answers?"

Kaiba thought for a while, calming himself down and gladly let his mind work. He tried to recall how both agent Yuuki and him had solved the poem. Contrary to popular? belief, they had actually solved the first three poems right after 3 deaths of rookies, and not before the act had taken place. Whilst the last three... they had solved them as quickly as possible, but of course the killer _-had-_ to be so eager about killing off his current victims before the police could be ten feet away from their respective stations.

Then it hit him like another bullet; -only through his brain- fast and immediate. Of course, all of them had concrete answers, but...

"Yes. But it's frustrating to see the seriousness in these poems. You see the problem?" He watched as the officer's face scrunch into -what seemed like- deep concentration.

"Somehow I've got a feeling that this one is easier than it lets on" Katsuya commented.

"You're kidding me? Of course it is. Only, they're always mixed with unknown spice" the inspector responded impatiently as he eyed the younger officer. Jounouchi shrugged carelessly and flashed him a grin, temporarily forgetting that this was the inspector who had access to his secretly-kept past.

* * *

**2  
**  
"Uuunnnngh!" A muffled scream escaped from his throat. Both his mind and body panicked as his feelings swirled like raging storms at sea. He found himself temporarily blind when pain exploded through every part of his body. 

Cold sweat gladly appeared, matting his slick long hair, which framed his face, against his face and making the meager clothing he was wearing cling irritably on to his body.

His lungs burned. His stomach weighed like a ton of bricks. And his eyes... his eyes stung, clearly due to the burning tears tears?. This wasn't supposed to happen! He wasn't supposed to be brought this low.

He tried to resist the pain, tried to fight it, but it was just too much. He felt as if his body was going to explode -thoroughly destroyed into pieces of flesh, veins and internal organs with a great deal of blood splattered across the room. A bloody mess.

The pain hadn't subsided yet, when he felt another pain inflict his sensitive senses.

"Uuuunnnnnnnnngh!" he screamed through his throat. His jaw was starting to hurt he was still gagged, tears were streaming down his cheeks uncontrollably, his body was cringing -_writhing_- helplessly and -**EVERYWHERE HURTS!!**

His lungs lacked needed oxygen throughout the scream.

This is not happening! Why him? Oh, it hurts, he screamed mentally.

Pain overwhelmed his senses tenfold -or maybe thousand fold-. And that's when his body decided to shut down immediately. The muffled scream died down and the body slumped carelessly to the ground.

Exhaustion had claimed him earlier than Death...

A big hand was slowly ruffling his sweat-covered locks and pushed them aside.

* * *

**-- Station 6 - Interrogating room  
**  
Marik stumbled backwards, suddenly in shock. For once he stared frighteningly at the person in front of him, his mouth agape. This really wasn't supposed to happen! He couldn't find his words. It's as if he'd lost the gift of speaking which he'd always prided himself for. 

Mariku leered at the officer, a sort of sadistic grin appeared carelessly on his face. The officer was definitely a wuss when it came to these sort of things. The more he manipulated the officer, the more satisfied he felt with his power over this particular... individual.

He closed the distance between them with a few steps forward, successfully cornering the squirming officer. His figure loomed dangerously over the other.

"Let's try again, shall we?" Mariku said casually, smirking triumphantly as he put both his hands on either sides of Marik's head.

"N-no" The pale indigo eyes widened fearfully as the owner shrunk his body unsuccessfully against the wall.  
_This isn't happening! This isn't happening!_, he cried mentally. His stomach churned sickly, anticipation lacing itself round his near-uncontrollable feelings. He screwed his eyes shut, turned his face away immediately.

The other's breath felt irritating on his face. His personal space had been intruded. _No! Not again! _

Why him? Why was this criminal doing this? Why was _-he-_ even here?...

His rational mind instantly snapped him out of his temporary shock; he was an officer. He wasn't supposed to be afraid of a criminal like Mariku. The title of being one of the roughest agents wasn't branded on him for nothing, his rebellious mind pointed out.  
Marik narrowed his eyes and breathed out, slowly. Working as an under cover agent had its advantages.

"How are you going to get some answers in such a position?" Mariku sneered, whispering into the other's ear. He smirked when he noticed the visible shudder from the agent. _Tsk_. How sad, the officer had never experienced an intimating approach.

He slyly cupped the agent's chin and forcibly turned the other's head to face him.

Marik growled suddenly. He grabbed the offending hand and roughly, twisted the arm to the owner's back. Now, their position was reversed.

"Doesn't matter" Marik answered sharply.

Mariku was surprised with the creepy smile still in place, but he showed no signs of having felt the pain of his twisted arm. His other arm swiftly elbowed the agent forcibly. He kicked the agent's legs, knocking him off his feet, literally.

Having caught off guard, Marik fell unceremoniously on the floor. Angrily, he locked his feet round the smug Mariku's ankle and swept him off his feet in turn. He automatically punched Mariku in the gut, forcing the other on the ground and cuffing both Mariku's wrists as he straddled the guy's back.

All Mariku could do was wriggle a little and grimace with his face on the floor. Damn! He didn't expect a direct attack from the officer.

"Two can play this game" Marik whispered much in the same way Mariku had done. The other tensed at the closeness.

"Get up!" Marik ordered and pushed himself off the other's back.

It's by then Mariku noticed how weird it felt to be straddled on the back... by another guy, by and agent no less. Weird. It probably must be the fact that he had never been caught in this position before. A moment ago the closeness and the body warmth coming from the agent, had felt strangely... comfortable.

_**WHAT THE HELL?!  
**_  
**3 **

End chapter 15

End notes:

**1** I like to admit in this part no offense to those who are quite justified against this that police officers are generally not always trustworthy.  
See chapter 2  
**2** I'm very sorry Otogi-fans.  
**3** The side-fic "Turamali" will probably contain more of this part, more information, I mean and more attention to details too. It's not yet up I'll make a better scene there.

I want to thank those who'd reviewed the **previous** chapter: **Shadowy Fluffball; **I've yet to read your stories and review. But I'll try. **Misura; **I've read most of your newest updates, but have no time to review. **Lil Nezumi; **I'm currently reading your stories,they're pretty interesting ideas. I've yet to review.**Obscured Illusions; **I've yet to read and review yours. But I'll try.  
I apologize for the delay. It's because of **_chapter 16_** I'm half done with it, it's the other stories I'm supposed to update, the long emails I have to reply, the lack of real internet at home **:cries:**, no time to go to nearby internet cafes... **:sighs:** And of course there's school. I wouldn't be surprised when I enter college the whole writing schedule of mine will be... empty... I'll try to complete all and I really mean _**ALL**_ my stories this school year!  
Anyways, thank you for still hanging around. **I apologize for for the long notes though**

**Thank you for reading!!! **

:smiley face: cin


	17. Chapter 16: Once in a life time Chance

**Haima  
Author:** Nekocin  
**Genres: **Action, slight Drama  
**Warnings: **OOC, possible **cliché **  
**Rated:** PG13  
**Disclaimer:** Anime in question doesn't belong to me. Never was. Never will. So bow down to the creator!  
**Author's notes: **See end. **Happy Belated New Year, everyone!!**

**Chapter 16: One of a lifetime Chance  
**  
Ever got the feeling of being trapped in a void? A void of nothingness that enhance the unknown and threaten to pull you deeper into a whirlwind of helplessness.  
Deeper and deeper.

Falling--perhaps at some point, the fall would be broken with an enormous splat--broken bones, torn skin, burst veins, flowing blood and pieces of flesh--  
Dead.

_No! No! No! Never!  
_  
He didn't want to die yet--didn't want to give into the void of desperate hopelessness--life. It felt as if he was moving around with a blindfold, without a sense od direction. Without a sense of life.

He clawed, clenched and bit on empty air, trying to swim his way through murky darkness. Helplessness tore into his chest, making him unable to breathe properly--breathing, panting, couhing, wheezing--sufficocating.

Wheezing. Wheezing.

He wheezed as he clawed into empty air again, clearly exhausted and momentarily blind. All hope fled--like a little wind breeze.

Wind breeze?

Slowly and with much effort, he opened his heavy-lidded eyes and looked up at the ceiling. The ceiling with exactly 7 gaping holes. He sighed, so it hadn't been a dream when he got kidnapped and tortured.

He remained lying on his back as he took in the room in which he was confined.

The walls on the room were dusty and half the wallpaper were torn, hanging shamelessly curled down from the walls like fresh-untouched bananas.  
The windows were weren't much better: they were coated with a thick of dust and not only that, some of the glasses were broken as well.

Gathering his strength, he pushed himself up in a sitting position, wincing automatically when pain shot through his back and tied wrists. Whatever the hell the bastard had done to him--his body, that is--would probably scar and mar his sensitive skin permanently!

He grit his teeth together as he tried to block out the pain and the whiny voice at the back of his mind that continued to wail about his skin getting wrinkles, scratches and markings.

_Finally!  
_  
He breathed in deeply and noticed suddenly that he wasn't gagged anymore. Much to his relief.

His kidnapper and soon -to-be (perhaps) executioner wasn't around--the guy (assuming he's one) must have mistaken the period in which he would gain his consciousness back. At least he was nice enough to pull the gag away.  
Knowing how his body the best, Otogi guessed he'd been knocked out for about 2 to 3 hours.

He took in the room again from a different angle.

The room was either abandoned, close to being broken down or just plain dirty because of its actual occupant's laziness. He was in a place that might have been called the bedroom, because it had a broken closet in the corner, a tattered mattress, a torn teddy bear head, some wrinkled blankets--

_What a messy room!  
_  
Wherever he was at the moment, he has to get back up or at least, some help.

He tugged at his binds quickly--a cloth, a ragged cloth. Sadly, no success. So he sat on his hands for awhile. He tucked his knees to his chin and pulled the tied hands from underneath to relieve his arms from the uncomfortable position behind his back.

After that, he looked around for something with a sharp edge--

His green eyes lit up immediately when he found himself looking at the window. Broken windows were bound to have sharps edges at some point!

Otogi scrambled up from his crumpled and cramped position, all the while wincing and hissing from sudden attacks of pain in his back and legs, and staggered towards one of the broken windows. He looked outside the window just to familiarize himself with the area--

From this side of the window he could see his station at the far East because of its striking blue-painted roof with the many flag masts. to the farther north, he could see Jounouchi's station with station six's awful gray-painted roof complete with this weird, giant crest of a--a white horse with wings--the Greek mythological winged-creature called Pegasus.

So this particular room was part of an apartment building--almost ready to be crushed to pieces.

Besides that the building itself was situated in the middle of a sport center, a day training, and a--race track Centrum? Ah! He knew this area. But for now, better go to work.

He held his bound wrists to a broken piece of glass and began the painstaking process of rubbing the cloth against the sharp edge with calculated care and desperate speed.

"Come on! Come on!--" he muttered repeatedly to himself through clenched teeth.

_SHHRRRIT! He was free!_

He pulled his wrist free from the tattered cloth and flexed his sore muscles. An automatic satisfied smirk reached his pained lips, hurting his cheeks that had somehow gotten swollen--probably through a beating, who cares!

Checking himself if he was capable enough to escape from the window once, Otogi wasn't very happy what he was seeing. It seemed as if his body was mangled and gnawed upon by fire--he's got to get the heck out of there!  
_  
_There was a weirdo on the loose in town! And Otogi's his next victim. He had to fight for his life. __

Never in his life had he faced such a threatening approach. He'd prided himself for being the most fearless one at his post--the prettiest one, the coolest--but never the most attractive one to become a corpse in twenty-four hours.

Whoever the serial killer was, Otogi had a feeling he had met the man before. Anyone he knew could've been the killer--or maybe not just everyone.  
There's still that retarded rookie from station 6.

Otogi was very sure Jounouchi couldn't have been the serial killer--he's far too gloomy and less bright to even think up such a wonderful trap or even make such an incredibly-structured poem.

He threw open the window in front of him and leaned on the window-sill to see how farther from the ground he was. Hopefully not too far, he did not like heights. That's when a sudden big hand pushed him over the window, sending Otogi to his death...

* * *

**_-Nearby Coffee-shop-  
_**  
He frowned deeper while re-reading the poem. There was something familiar in it, something close... the rookie nibbled on his lower lip, deep in thought. Jounouchi's hand hesitantly scribbled something on the paper.

"This is as far as I can go" Jounouchi sighed dejectedly and slumped his shoulders, lying down over the table on his arms. He flexed his sore fingers, looked over the answers once more and let out a long sigh.

"I don't get it. How come you can solve the poem all on your own regardless of possible wrong answers in your draft"

"Would you believe me that a little bird has told me?" Katsuya pointed out incredulously and grinned a bit before grimacing. Ack! That's a bad joke. It's getting old too.

The inspector crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his seat to study the slumped officer. He winced slightly. Ugh! Damn headache had come up. He blinked once or twice, focusing on keeping his headache at bay... if yhe could. Perhaps he should have stayed in bed and let agent Yuuki handle the case.

Mokuba would have scolded him for getting out of bed though; his wound hadn't healed yet.

Why had he wanted to work on this case immediately? Hn. Must be because of the rookie's... pathetic life before becoming an officer? Or was it because of this empty feeling inside of him, when he couldn't catch that killer? Indeed, he was someone who wanted to complete all the work he had started as soon as possible The answer was probably the latter one.

He took the crumpled notes from Jounouchi's line of sight on the table. Seeing as Jounouchi hadn't said anything, it's probably okay to read the answers.

**1. Ryuuji Otogi  
2. Japanese Red Rose  
3. ?  
4. ?  
5. Clues  
6. Love Poem  
7. Challenge  
8. ?  
9. Approach  
10. Ryuuji Otogi  
**  
"How come--the riddle part-- can be 'clues'?"

"It's like you've said -I quote- 'Of course, the poem is easy, only mixed with unknown spice'. The riddle itself looks easy, but the clues are hard to find" Jounouchi shrugged carelessly and grabbed the cup of coffee, which had stood forgotten near his left arm when it was served.

The inspector frowned, trying to see the logic in the hastily-scribbled notes.

"A challenge?"

"Uhm... yeah. The poem says 'just hope you can race, because my treat had yet begun'. 'Challenge' had just immediately come to mind when I read that line. I think he means challenging someone when that someone is caught unaware in a situation," Jounouchi chuckled lamely, sipped his coffee and continued his explanation.

"Uhmm, yeah sort of... 'the treat' he had mentioned must be referring to the killings. To put everything logically in place, he is challenging us _-I assume-_ to stop his plots or something like that. It must have been quite a boring life, when he was still untainted by people's deaths" He pointed out, snorting at his sarcasm on the last comment. He was rubbing his temples slowly.

A headache had made its presence known in his tired-out mind. Doing puzzles like these weren't so easy. A lot of energy was needed for the complicated thinking.

Besides that, he should actually think of nothing troublesome like his constant worries about his sister, his guilt, his duties etcetera. It hadn't been an easy task, he supposed that he was chained to those matters.

And still, he'd managed to clear his head from them, while puzzling the poem out even though there were still three spots left to fill.

"Ten?" Inspector Kaiba inquired, looking at the slumped officer.

"Aa" was the officer's neutral response.

"Bad description. Bad fractions. Bad constructions. Very misleading. He sucks at poetry" Katsuya added non-committal, grinning winningly at his companion.

"You have experience on that field?" the inspector raised curious eyebrows at the grinning officer for some explanation.

"Not really. But I do know when something is crap or not -like this coffee for example. I like my coffee with whipped cream, this one tastes plain dirty with some goo stuck on top" He grimaced as he took another sip from his cup.

Okay... but that still didn't explain about the rookie being able to unlock the 'keys' -the clues-, himself. Usually, it's not really easy for rookies to adept to the criminal minds, which was why an older, more experienced officer had to keep the newbies in check.

Seeing as this rookie had taken the assignment of finding Ryuuji Otogi in living state with stride, inspector Kaiba began to wonder if it was really easy to have the same mind as their killer. Probably not.

The killer must have known about his bad poetry, but had succeeded in veiling the possible clues with non-existing, disciplined poetry structure -not that he knew much of their structures. And yet, the rookie...

"So where do you suggest we go find these clues?" he cautiously picked his words out, eyeing the rookie coolly.

Jounouchi's grin fell promptly and his eyes darkened. "... how about trying a good-luck hunch?"

"Don't answer me with a question, Jounouchi,"

The officer straightened his back and put on his police cap; the cap he always seemed to be forgetting to wear.

"Let's go take my hunch,"

"And where will this hunch of yours might be?"

"You'll see," The officer flashes him a cryptic smile. Before the inspector could prod some more, Katsuya had already slid out of his chair and was already outside the cheap coffee shop.

It didn't take a minute longer before inspector Kaiba scowled at the closed door; the rookie had left the bill on him

* * *

The light was on red.

**_Vroom. Vroom.  
_**  
The track was cleared, black-and-white-checkered flags were waved around and the nearby track-supporters cheered. The announcer commented about this season's newest additions and spiced his jokes up with subtle perverted implications.

Inspector Kaiba looked miffed as several strangers intruded his personal space due to the over-crowded race-track supporters. He did not like strangers' bodies pressed against him in the middle of an investigation. He did not like hearing the cheers around him; they gave him throbbing headaches. He did not like the afternoon heat, he did not like track-racing, he did not like anything about this place. And damn the rookie seemed to be enjoying himself.

Kaiba glanced at the back of officer Jounouchi's dirty-blonde head. He did not like this situation one bit.

"This is your hunch?" Grabbing the officer's elbow, he practically propelled him out of the crowd.

"Yes. Now, all we need to do is find the connection between the other clues,"

The inspector also didn't like the tone in which Jounouchi had spoken. Impatient and silently enigmatic. It frustrated him to find everything he was sure of jumbled in a messy heap just because the rookie had seen the potential in following his instincts.

How would he know about the connection between the clues? How would he know what or where the clue was? He's not some psychic or anything. So, why can a mere rookie like Jounouchi get an almost possible lead--even if it might not really lead to their killer's hide out--in this case?

"Oi, let go! Are you trying to fracture my elbow or something?" Jounouchi snapped.

Kaiba blinked, mildly surprised as the rookie pulled himself roughly loose.

"Ch'! I swear you guys take great pleasure in torturing rookies," Jounouchi muttered, while rubbing his bruised elbow absently.

**_ "OH MY GOD!! I can't believe it. It's HIM. It's an honor to be graced by the presence of the legendary Phoenix today. Let's heat it for Phoenix!!   
_**The enthusiasm of the announcer was apparently shared by the crowd as the cheers increased in volume.

It sparked Jounouchi's interest immediately. He quickly made his way back into the crowd, trying to see how this legendary Phoenix looked like and was followed by a fuming inspector. Besides, he's a great fan of track-racing; it made sense why he loved driving at top speed.

The legendary Phoenix--was a race car's name. The driver stepped out of the vehicle, pushed off his helmet and looked at his fans charmingly.

Jounouchi felt his jaw drop and his eyes widening in shock, when he caught a glimpse of Phoenix's driver.

"The hell?!"

Kaiba lifted a surprised eyebrow at seeing station six's Chief there, complete in race track suit with racetrack fame and race car.

He'd never been close to people like Mr. Crawford-too eccentric and too proud about his achievements. Well, apart from Yami, who had always been an eccentric man in his eyes, with his wild spiky hair, his wood-like deadpanned face, the disgusting costumes he always seems to prefer dressing up with.

Chief Crawford was very much like that: weird and eccentric. Perhaps due to his eccentric nature he was respected.

Kaiba would probably never understand how the higher authorities' minds worked placing such a wild person, Crawford on the head of station six.

"So that's why he hasn't been around a while ago," Katsuya marveled indulgingly and let out an absent chuckle.

The current commentator rushed up to the Phoenix's owner and shoved a microphone under the other's nose.

**_ "Truly, you are so wonderful to drop by yet again, Mr. Phoenix. Are you still up to this race?"  
_**  
Chief Crawford-slash-Phoenix' driver threw another charming smile to his enamored audience and held the microphone closer to his lips.

** "I have yet to decide whether to make a come back or not. Maybe a quick race with the younger generation some day, but for now, we shall see in the near future if I'll ever devote my time on the track." ** Another charming smile, however, this time showing a set of blinding perfect teeth.

** "Besides, I'm actually looking forward to meeting someone here, so please don't mind me dropping by frequently. I don't want you young drivers to feel so intimidated" ** Chief Crawford continued with an amused chuckle in the background.

The crowd broke out in cheers and clapped enthusiastically.

Kaiba winced, grabbed Jounouchi by the wrist and proceeded to drag the other away from the crowd once again.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! You didn't have to pull me that hard,"

"We have no use of this place," the inspector simply said and made his way to the parking lot.

"Oi! Let go, will ya?" Jounouchi pulled himself loose and stumbled backwards. Raising his index finger to point at the taller inspector's face, he narrowed his eyes threateningly into his direction.

"If you see it that way, then there's no point in solving this case. And sure, let all the rookies be killed. They are just inexperienced, right? Which also means failure on your part! I don't know about you, but I don't want to die yet--"_ Especially not before I see my sister getting herself a nice, good husband and having a couple of kids_, Jounouchi added thoughtfully. "-and you're hardly the type who takes failures well,"

The inspector glared back, clearly offended, as Jounouchi rubbed his bruised wrists.

"What comes after that then?" the inspector began out of the blue. Jounouchi did a double take and blinked.

"Huh?" He stared unblinkingly back at the inspector, surprised. The inspector already gave up without a fight?

Kaiba opened his mouth to explain in baby-talk what he meant, but no word escaped his lips for he was staring at someone approaching them, in mild surprise.

Jounouchi caught on and looked over his shoulder curiously only to find himself looking at Chief Crawford,

"Jounouchi," Chief Crawford acknowledged indifferently. Even though the chief wasn't wearing the formal police uniform, he still looked endearingly intimidating--which disturbed Jounouchi to no end, so he nodded stiffly to the chief.

"Sir,"

The chief directed his gaze to the inspector and gave him a smirk or some sorts. "Kaiba,"

The inspector merely raised his eyebrows at the smirk.

"What a surprise to see you here, the both of you," the chief drawled without breaking eye-contact with the inspector. His eyes glinted eerily--

"Hn,"

Feeling quite out of place, Jounouchi shifted uncomfortably and looked away.

**End chapter 16**

TheNekoTalks:  
  
This is one suffering chapter that made me suffer for quite awhile. **:cries:** Looking back at the previous chapters **:winces:**, I notice there isn't a lot of **KaibaJounouchi** stuff to mark this story as a** KaibaJounouchi story**... **:cries:** But I've finally decided not to make this story last till chapter _**20**_, so the end _-is-_ nearing. :3 Finally!!!

**Ack! Please forgive me Otogi Fans!!! Note the "...," at the end.  
**  
And here comes a shameful announcement on my part-- :) I've finally got the guts to post 2 whole new Yuugioh Alternative Universes "**Freedom**" and "**A Shutter Chance**" (both will be posted at and **SlashFF**. But sadly, only one, the latter one, will be posted in . The first-named story is a bit--how you call it?--**darker**, **very yaoi**, **R-rated**, and not really my-style-themes). The side fics to this story ("**Aventurien**", "**Turamali**" and **Fluere**") will be planned out as soon as I get rid of all my newest plot bunnies out of my head.

Anyways, I like to thank those who had reviewed my previous chapter **(love you!) :feels happy because this will be her 2nd story that will have an end sooner:**  
**- Beysie  
- Crosshunt-c  
- Shadowy Fluffball  
- Misura  
- Jou-pup  
**  
**Thank you for reading!! I apologize for the long notes.  
**  
**:smiley face: cin**


	18. Chapter 17: Closer to You

**Haima  
Author:** Nekocin  
**Genres:** Action, slight Drama  
**Warnings:** OOC, possible cliché  
**Rated:** PG13  
**Disclaimer:** see previous chapter  
**Author's notes:** Sorry for being late! I couldn't get this chapter out quickly since school's 3rd semester is now a racetrack and this chapter has a lot of loose ends. **:cries:** And I just realize I've stretched one day in several chapters **:shifty eyes: ** __

Side note: My computer is acting 'sick', so I might not be able to update some time this year.

* * *

_Never in his life had he faced such a threatening approach. He'd prided himself for being the most fearless one at his post--the prettiest one, the coolest—but never the most attractive one to become a corpse in twenty-four hours._

Whoever the serial killer was, Otogi had a feeling he had met the man before. Anyone he knew could've been the killer—or maybe not just everyone.  
There's still that retarded rookie from station 6.

Otogi was very sure Jounouchi couldn't have been the serial killer—he's far too gloomy and less bright to even think up such a wonderful trap or even make such an incredibly-structured poem.

He threw open the window in front of him and leaned on the windowsill to see how farther from the ground he was. Hopefully not too far, he did not like heights. That's when a sudden big hand pushed him over the window, sending Otogi to his death...

* * *

**Chapter 17: Closer to you  
**  
Yugi gasped, his eyes widening in horror.

"Shizuka-chan? What are you doing?"

Shizuka didn't answer immediately for she was leaning dangerously over the window, trying to pull up something—or rather someone.

"Can you give me a hand here, please?"

"Ah, okay!"

For someone like Shizuka, Yugi was quite impressed when she'd solved the riddle in the poem and dragged him along 'to investigate'. She was after all not really experienced in the homicide business.

So how exactly did she solve the poem? Where did she get the clues?

Yugi could only bet that officer Jounouchi's sister loved reading mysterious books—but that didn't make her an immediate female Sherlock Holmes, right?

"Wa, finally!" Shizuka sighed out of relied and gave Yugi a sheepish grin as she gently laid an unconscious officer under the window.

Yugi grabbed hold of the officer's wrist and felt for a pulse. Still alive. He then looked expectantly at Shizuka.

"Shizuka-chan—can you explain to me how you got it right?"

* * *

**----- Flashback start -----  
**  
**12:30 PM – Hospital  
**  
Shizuka took a deep breath before entering the hospital room and opened the door. Her smile was automatically back on her face as she stepped in, saying, "I'm back" cheerfully. It didn't take long before her smile wavered for no one had responded to her greeting.

The patient wasn't in bed.

"Ryuuji-kun?" She checked the bathroom and then the room closet. He wasn't present. Silent worry overcame her as Shizuka checked the corridors near Otogi's room. Maybe he went for a cold beverage. Maybe the doctor was re-checking the shot wound. Maybe he was off flirting with the nurses of the lower floors—Shizuka couldn't help but worry about Otogi and stopped one of the passing nurses to inquire.

"Uhm—excuse me, miss—do you know where the patient of room 503 has gone?"

The nurse blinked, looking lost at first but quickly schooled her befuddled face behind a bland face and then narrowed her eyes at the ceiling in thought. "Humm—around 11 or 12, a doctor came to check on the patient and then took him to the garden,"

"Which doctor? In the garden?"

"Yes, yes--I believe it's the newly-stationed doctor, Ogata-sensei," the nurse's eyes brightened instantly as she'd finally remembered the name.

"I see. How long will this walk going to take?"

The nurse laughed suddenly, making Shizuka wonder if she'd said something very wrong.

"Patient 503 doesn't like straining himself much, always complaining about needing his rest—as if he didn't get enough! Ogata-sensei must be forcing him to walk now,"

"Oh. Well, thank you for giving me your time. I'll go look for him," Shizuka nodded politely and received a similar nod in return.

After that she searched the Hospital's garden for the injured officer Otogi only to find out from nurses who were on watch that there was no Ogata-sensei assisting patient 503 to walk. It's by then Shizuka's worries gave room to her fears and made her fingers itch in anticipation. She felt pressured as soon as she thought of the two poems the police had received.

What if Otogi was kidnapped again? In this case, he's either with the doctor or the doctor has kidnapped him. To make things even worse, that Ogata-sensei was a suspicious character from what she'd heard from the nurses on garden watch.

The guy had been working at the hospital for about 3 months and even though he's well liked by the nurses, he was acting slightly strange around the other doctors--as if he was afraid they would criticize him. A week or two to adjust to a new environment is understandable but 3 months?

"_If roses are red, bathed in fear, covered in sweat_," Shizuka cited to herself and cupped her chin thoughtfully between here thumb and index finger.

"Onii-chan said that '_roses_' can represent the Japanese roses—and they meant 'fading away from existence'. '_covered in sweat_' are linked to death—fear for dying, sweat from fearing. Bath—sweat—covered—fear. Hummm," she mumbled under her breath, narrowing her eyes while forcing herself to grasp the faint connection between the words. The answer seemed to be dangling right in front of her eyes and yet—she couldn't catch it.

'If I were a serial killer with such high intelligence, what exactly will these words mean to me?—Kidnapping the victim, I'll tie him up before he could escape. If I don't want him to see my face, I'll blindfold him. But then again, I can kill him instantly too without a blindfold. If I were kidnapped, I would get the privilege to see the killer, if not, I would feel his intention—through torture,' Shizuka felt her face pale and her heart hammer inside her ribcage, as she imagined unintentionally what kind of torture a victim could be put through when a serial killer's at work.

'_what's the only thing in mind that makes me this hard to find?_' The riddle and the clues of course! '_as for the resr of the sweet phrase, don't worry it will come_'—,' Shizuka answered out loud. "—The overused love poem—roses are red, violets are blue—,"

_Roses are red. Violets are blue._

Roses... red... violets ... blue... something...  
  
She blinked twice as she scrunched her face in thought, while glaring at an unseen spot behind a tree. Something was familiar. Something she hadn't paid much attention to while Onii-chan had driven around his area—

_Roses... violets... red... blue... flowers... colors...  
_  
"AH! It's already begun!" she gasped out suddenly, surprising nearby patients who were trying to enjoy the fresh air and the nature, and headed straight to station 6.

Once arrived at the station and without much explanation, she'd dragged agent Mutou along the way, ordering him to drive them to area F.

And at last, she'd decoded the rest of the poem.

**----- Flashback end ----**

* * *

"-when I burst in here, I saw him leaning over the window and because I thought Otogi-san's kept somewhere, I mistook him for the killer and knocked him out cold. Only--I'd forgotten he was leaning over the window and miscalculated that. I didn't have the faintest idea how the killer actually looks like. I doubt he has Otogi-san's beautiful long, black hair, or wear a hospital gown, right?" Shizuka babbled breathlessly and sent a sheepish smile to the agent, while thinking what an idiot she'd been to mistake Otogi's back for the serial killer's.

Agent Mutou's face looked serious as he let everything dawned upon him. It seemed like an hour before he'd finally grasped the actual truth behind the long explanation and exclaimed as his eyes twinkled, "Now, I see how everything is put together! Such a complicated man. I'm impressed how your brains work, you'll make a fine Detective, or maybe a Mystery Novelist"

"I'll contact agent Ishtar and Yami for backup. Now that we have Otogi-san here, let's search the room for anything useful that might tell us where our man is," He suggested before punching the air.

"You're very energetic today, Yugi-san," Shizuka grinned-

_Click. Click._ The sound of a gun being cocked from its safety interrupted their conversation coldly, followed by and ear piecing **_BANG!  
_**  
"Oya-oya, it seems like some mice decided to drop by,"

* * *

"What brings you two here on the track?" Chief Crawford smiled, while clasping his hands together. He looked at the rigidly standing officer and then at the stoned-face inspector. However, neither of the two answered his question.

He frowned lightly at both and dropped his smile.

"Are you two on a date?" He wondered innocently while still sounding serious at the same time.

Jounouchi sputtered.

The inspector's right eye twitched.

"If not, why are you hanging out with Mr. Kaiba, officer? Shouldn't agent Yuuki be tailing you?"

The chief looked thoughtful and ignored Jounouchi's attempts to clear the misunderstanding.

"Oh, I see--you both dumped Yuuki on the sidelines and decided that both of you are meant to work together. That doesn't sound right. I mean, Yuuki is actually far better than Kaiba –_no offense, Kaiba_– and far more experienced in _–that-_ field, if you know what I mean, " He continued off handedly and twirled his right hand wrist dramatically.

"Wha-? Sir! It's a misunderstanding! It's nothing like that, sir!" Jounouchi had finally interrupted as the chief noticed his rigid stance ease into a defensive one.

"Is that so? Explain yourself, officer. I don't have time to link your murmurings,"

* * *

**13:15 PM  
**  
After dropping Officer Jounouchi, Yami went back to station with the intention of approaching his former partner just once. He felt his impending death nearing as he stepped out of the car.

How should he tell him? How should he ask him? How should he corner Yugi without scaring him? How? So many questions to worry about!

_AAARGH!_ For the first time Yuuki Yami felt shy about his intentions—usually he didn't hide his intentions behind a nervous face whether they were bad or not. He swallowed unconsciously, while climbing the stairs to Chief Crawford's floor of offices. Some younger officers passed him polite bowing, but he paid them no heed.

He slipped into the office and automatically let his eyes roam the room in search for his ex-partner.

About two-third of the officers in his division were absent, including Yugi. Yami realized he'd missed Yugi on the latter's way out to patrol in the city because of the Autumn festivals.

"I'm so pathetic," he muttered to himself and mentally hung his head in defeat as he made his way to the vacant seat where his ex-partner usually sits when writing reports. He absently touched the penholder with the childish Dark Magician (a guy with flowing black purple robes, complete with crooked hat and wand) stickers and smiled before instantly turning his head to look over his shoulder with a glare.

"What are you looking at?"

Some of his subordinates were hunched together behind him with the intention of finding out why the cold but mostly-admired Yuuki was touching agent Mutou's stuff, and perhaps using the information as black-mail material in the near future. It's too bad they'd been caught snoping behind agent Yuuki.

"Nothing—nothing!"

Yami glared. They flinched and shrunk away.

"You were the one who gave him that penholder on Valentine, weren't you?" A sad chuckle.

Yami glanced over at the officer sitting on his right, but did not comment for it was officer Mazaki who had chuckled sadly. She stopped writing her report and looked at him with her penetrating blue eyes. She chuckled sadly again.

"I thought I had a chance with you, you know? I thought I could break through your defenses—your mask and the thorns round your heart. You always looked so isolated and cold—until Yugi came along—You're always looking out for him—even when you know he's capable of holding his ground on his own... Why?" Mazaki sniffled softly and fisted her hands in frustration.

"I asked myself _-why-_. Why do you only let Yugi in and leave us—me out? Why? And then that penholder—you weren't too careful when you placed that gift on Yugi's desk while he's sent out to get some paper copies for you. You thought no one was looking but in fact, I was watching your every step-," she smiled fondly and quickly wiped her eyes. "Funny that Yugi never did find out who'd sent him such a generous gift,"

There was a tense silence between the two officers; Mazaki hid her face behind the curtain of her brown, chin-length hair while Yami looked away with dread written on his face.

"Why are you telling me this, Mazaki?"

"—because—I—," she paused and seemed to be having problems with formulating her sentence so she started playing nervously with her pen.

"—because—I—I—," she tried again and suddenly threw her pen with effortless ease at someone hovering behind Yami's shoulder.

_Thud._ "Ow!"

Her tears evaporated from the corners of her eyes and the healthy blush returned to her pale face.  
"Because there's a rat sitting behind you right now," Officer Mazaki sneered in triumph, pushed her chair back and walked over to the fallen officer.

Resting her high-heeled foot on her fallen victim, she deliberately squatted to stare down at the unfortunate officer, who received the pen-_alias_-dart in the face.

"_So_ Ishtar-kun, how do you like my aim?"

Officer Ishtar scowled while rubbing the sore cheek on which Mazaki's dart-pen had hit.

"A ten on my scale," he admitted and glared at Yami's blank face and then at Mazaki's smug one.

"Now pay up! I win. Don't underestimate the Power of Mazaki Anzu!"

The scowl deepened. "If I had known you were such a Drama Queen I wouldn't have started the bet in the first place,"  
He roamed his pockets and slapped the money in Mazaki's open palm, before pushing himself up from the tiled floor and dusting his crumpled uniform.

Then they started to argue.

Yami realized that Mazaki had to do something daring in order to win a bet—and he was her pawn. For some reason he couldn't get angry at her using him for money—he didn't feel betrayed even. He felt oddly relieved thought. Without a word he slipped away from Yugi's desk, only to hear incoherent distressed message through the walkie-talkie.

His eyes widened when he recognized one of the voices—_Yugi!_

* * *

**_Bang!  
_**  
Suddenly Jounouchi stopped stammering and looked up over his shoulder in surprise.

"What was that?" he asked no one in particular.

"Have you acquired sonar senses this quickly, officer?" Chief Crawford remarked while arching his eyebrows in feigned surprise.

"Well—I—," Some crackling noises from Jounouchi's walkie-talkie interrupted him. All three looked at the object hanging on one side of the young officer's belt.

"You—why—d-?" An abrupt message was being sent through, unfortunately not in understandable sentences. The crackling continued interrupting the officer on the other side his speech and then a second voice got through-

"Who—you?—ONII-CHAN-," A thundering shot accompanied with a female scream cut off the connection between whoever was calling.

"What was that?" He muttered, frowning at both the Chief and Inspector as if they could explain such a strange message to him.

Something nagged at the back of his mind and it intensified its nagging as Jounouchi tried to orientate himself, something was way off with the message.

"Well, that must be something quite dangerous. I didn't expect my subordinates to be this childish," Chief Crawford commented nonchalantly as if it's a usual ever-day occurrence to receive such messages. He crossed his arms on top of his breast and slid on his famous thoughtful face.

Inspector Kaiba did not comment. If he did understand the message he did not show it. Yet he wasted no time by pulling Jounouchi along. "Excuse us. We'll go back to our task,"

_("Hey!")_ The officer squawk in protest and surprise.

"I didn't expect you to swing that way so openly in front of me, Kaiba-dear. Oh well, I guess it's all the better," Chief Crawford commented, using his most nonchalant voice and turned on his heels to return to the track stadium. _"Ta!"_

"What's he talking about?" Officer Jounouchi looked over his shoulder with mild interest.

"Ignore him," was Kaiba's curt response as he stopped at the place where he'd parked the stolen car. He slid the ignition key into the keyhole and twisted it to open the front seat door.

"Officer Jounouchi! Do you copy me? Officer Jounouchi, do you copy? This is agent Kujaku," a clear female voice mixed with the walkie-talkie's crackling sounds came through.

Jounouchi pushed his respond button. "Yes, Jounouchi here,"

"Agent Yuuki has reported that both agent Mutou and your sister are missing,"

His heart shot up to his throat. He must have heard it wrong.

"What do you mean?" He pulled the walkie-talkie from the side of his belt and pressed his right ear against it.

"Agent Mazaki has reported that Shizuka-chan has acted strange upon towering over poor Yugi-,"

_"What do you mean they're missing!"_ He'd almost shrieked, before worriedly walking up and down in a straight line.

Katsuya then paused and looked up thoughtfully at the sky. "Shizuka's acting strange unless—,"

"Unless?" Kujaku wondered out of confusion.

Kaiba stepped into the front seat impatiently, securing his seatbelt and ignored the conversation.

"Unless—of course! I almost forgot she's very fond of mysteries! Thank you for informing, Kujaku-sempai!" He grinned.

"Please call me Mai—like everyone do,"

Kaiba rolled his eyes. "No need. No need. Hey! Have any of you sent me an incoherent message?"

"Uhm—yes, sort of. Most of us couldn't make sense out of it—though Yami started panicking and rushing off to who-knows-where,"

"I see-," Jounouchi turned just in time to see a frantic car passing by a mere few inches from his side in a screeching halt.

"What's that noise?"

He was about to curse at the driver when he recognized the latter stepping out of his car. His eyes widened in surprise.

"Hello? Jounouchi?"

"Look! I've got to go—I've just found Yuuki-sempai!"

**End chapter 17  
**  
-** Oya-oya** -- it's supposed to be **"Well, well, well,"**. If I'm wrong, I apologize for the bad translation.

**End notes:  
**Thoughts of this chapter... not really that good. I've tried keep my exciting mood while writing this chapter, but sadly I got a bit distracted **:sweatdrops:** A bit distracted is an understatement indeed. **:sighs:** I apologize for the over-using things.

**Thank you to those who'd reviewed the previous chapter:  
**  
**- Beysie:** I'm sorry for letting you wait. I think I just can't get everything faster while worrying about my school work and my older stories that need tending soon. ** 333** I'm glad you still like the story and I hope this chapter hasn't disappointed you--**_Thank you for still reading and reviewing this story.  
_**  
**- Kumori Sakusha formerly Saelbu: **So happy you like the previous chapter. I hope I didn't disappoint you much with this chapter. **_Thank you for still reading and reviewing this story._**

**- CrossHunt-s:** I'm glad you like the chapter and I hope this one didn't disappoint your expectations...if it did, I apologize for my suckiness. **_Thank you for still reading and reviewing this story._**

**- Misura: n.n;;;** Ehehehe, maybe it's really in front of them, maybe it's not. It looks kind of obvious to work that way--but I hope I didn't disappoint you much when it comes to the character portrayals. T**_hank you for still reading and reviewing this story.  
_**  
**- Hazel-Beka:blushes:** Thank you. Sadly, I guess I'd this feeling all this time about the pairing thing** :cries: **It would probably not work in the usual _HOP! POP! In Love! _thing when I use this setting of story... how depressing. I'm glad you think this story is actually an all right story, considering that fact that I've been quite slow with the updates **:sweatdrops:. :blush:** Thanks..._ Wa! _**:blush blush:** on your list **:blush:** I hope this chapter isn't really that disappointing. **_Thank you for reading and reviewing this story_**

**- Sukara-Nodori:** I take it that you like the story as well **D**.** n.n** I hope this chapter hasn't turned out disappointingly. **_Thank you for reading and reviewing this story._**

**- Shadowy Fluffball:** I hope I didn't disappoint you. **_Thank you for still reading and reviewing this story._**

**Thank you for reading!**

.:Nekocin:. (I'm changing my signs at the end of my stories, because the usual _smiley face_ and _neko ears_ I'd signed in my earlier works cannot be used anymore and I find it silly every time I sign out with **:smiley face:cin**)


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